“My story—the story of the son of Jainulabdeen, who lived for over a hundred years on Mosque Street in Rameswaram island and died there; the story of a lad who sold newspapers to help his brother; the story of a pupil reared by Sivasubramania Iyer and Iyadurai Solomon; the story of a student taught by teachers like Pandalai; the story of an engineer spotted by MGK Menon and groomed by the legendary Prof. Sarabhai; the story of a scientist tested by failures and setbacks; the story of a leader supported by a large team of brilliant and dedicated professionals. This story will end with me, for I have no belongings in the worldly sense. I have acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing—no family, sons, daughters.”
Recipient of three of India’s highest civilian awards – Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna, APJ Abdul Kalam, the former president of India, was everything that India could ever be proud of. Besides being a renowned scientist and a visionary, he was also an author of as many as 17 books, many of which were best-sellers. Kalam's 79th birthday was recognised as World Student Day by the United Nations. He has also received honorary doctorates from 40 universities.
A team of Abdul Kalam's close associates has decided to run his official Twitter account which has now been renamed as 'In memory of Dr Kalam'.
I have to say we seem to have had more role models in India before independence than after it. We didn’t have anyone else till one man came along. He was A P J Abdul Kalam. Sadly he is not with us anymore. He has left us yesterday with fond memories and with a lasting legacy built on sound values.
Thank you Dr Kalam, for inspiring us, for teaching us how to be humble, for being with us, for being one of us.
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