Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Autobiography 01

I'm a well in this great landing. looking at its millions of boys and girls, to draw from me the inexhaustible divinity and spread his grace everywhere, as does the water drawn from a well. This is my story The story of the son of Jainul Abdin and Ashama. The story of a lad who sold newspapers to help his brother. The story of a pupil reared by Shiva Subramanya Iyer and Ayadore Solomon. The story of a student talked by teachers like Pandale. The story of an engineer spotted by MJK Menon and grew. and groomed by the legendary Professor Sarabhai. The story of a scientist tested by failures in 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 required nothing, built nothing, possess nothing, no family, sons, daughters. I do not wish to sick myself up as an example to others, but I believe. that a few readers may draw inspiration and come to experience that ultimate satisfaction, which can only be found in the life of the spirit. God's providence is your inheritance. The bloodline of my great grandfather, Owl. My grandfather Pakir and my father Jainullah Abdin may end with Abdul Kalam, but God. grace will never cease, for it is eternal.

 

I was born into a middle class Tamale family in the Island Town of Rameshwaram. My father, Jainu Labdin, had neither much formal education nor much wealth. Despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He had an ideal help made in my mother, Ashim. I was one of many children. A short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a fairly large Pakka house on the mosque street in Rameshwaram. My austere father used to avoid all in essential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for in fact. I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally. The famous Shiva Temple, which makes Rameshwaram so sacred to pilgrims, was about a 10 minute walk from our houseality. Dominantly Muslim. But there were quite a few Hindu families too, living amicably with their Muslim neighbors. There was a very old mosque in our locality where my father would take me for evening prayers. Allah Akbar. The High Priest of the Rameshwaram Temple, Takshi Lakshmana Shastri, who is a very close friend of my father's, one of the most vivid memories of my early childhood is of the two men, each in his traditional attire, discussing spiritual matters My father could convey complex spiritual concepts in very simple down to Earth Tamir. He. once told me when troubles come, try to understand the relevance of your sufferings. Adversity always presents opportunities for introspection. I have throughout my life, tried to emulate my father in my own world of Science and technology. I feel convinced that there exists a divine power that can lift one up from confusion, misery, melancholy and failure, and guide 1 to one's true place. I was about six years old when my father embarked on the project of building a wooden sailboat to take pilgrim's from Rameshwaram to Dhanush Kodi and back He worked at building the boat on the seashore with the help of a relative Ahmed Jallah Luddin, who later married my sister Zahra. Lalu din became a close friend of mine. Despite the difference of 15 years in our ages, we used to go for long walks together every evening As we started from Moscow St our first halt would be at the imposing temple of Lord Shiva, where we would circle around the temple with the same reverence as any other pilgrim. Jalaluddin's schooling had been limited, principally because of his families, straightened circumstances at the time. I speak of, he was the only person on the entire island who could write English. He wrote letters for almost anybody in needle. Jalaluddin always spoke to me about educated people of scientific discoveries, of contemporary literature and of the its humans of medical science. Another person who greatly influenced my childhood was my first cousin, Shamsuddin. He was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram and a one man operation. The newspapers would arrive at Rameshwaram Station by the morning train.

 The Second World War broke out in 1939 when I was eight years old Soon India was forced to join the Allied forces. And something like a state of emergency was declared. The first casualty came in the form of the suspension of the train hall at Rameshwaram Station The newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameshwaram Road between Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. That's for Samsung Dean to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles And as if naturally, I filled the slot. Shamsuddin helped me earn my first wages. Every child is born with some inherited characteristics into a specific socioeconomic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways by figures of authority I inherited honesty and self discipline from my father, from my mother. I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness. But it was the time I spent with Jallauddin and Shamsuddin that perhaps contributed most to the uniqueness of my childhood and made all the difference in my later life. Then the war was over, and India's freedom was imminent. I asked my father's permission to leave Rameshwaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanadapuram. Shansuddin and Ahmed Jallah Ludhian traveled with me to Ramanathapuram to enroll me in Schwartz High School. Somehow I did not take to the new setting. The town of Ramanathapuram was a thriving factious town of some 50,000 people. But the coherence and harmony of Rameshwaram was absent. I missed my home and grabbed every opportunity to visit Rameshwaram. Once I settled down at Schwartz High School, the enthusiastic 15 year old within me, three immersed. My teacher, Ayadhara Solomon, was an ideal guide for an eager young mind that was yet uncertain of the possibilities and alternatives that lay before it. During my stay at Ramanathapuram, my relationship with him grew beyond that of teacher and pupil. Payyadurai Solomon used to say, to succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces Israel, belief and expectation. Ayadhar is Solomon, who later became a reverend, taught me that before anything I wanted could happen, I had to desire it intensely, and we absolutely certain it would happen to take. an example from my own life, I had been fascinated by the mysteries of the sky and the flight of birds from early childhood I used to watch cranes and seagulls soar into flight and long to fly. Simple provincial boy, though I was, I was convinced that one day I too would sore up into the skies. Indeed, how is the first child from Rameshwaram to fly? by the time I completed my education at Schwartz, I was a self confident boy determined to succeed. The decision to go in for further education was taken without a second thought in 19. 50 I arrived at St Joseph's College Trichy to study for the intermediate examination When I later joined the Bsc degree course at St Joseph's. I was unaware of any other option for higher education, nor did I have any information about career opportunities available to a student of science only after. obtaining a BSC did I realize that physics was not my subject? I had to go into engineering to realize my dreams. I wonder why some people tend to see science as something which takes man away from God for me. Science has always been the path to spiritual enrichment and self realization. I managed to be on the list of selected candidates to Madras Institute of Technology. Mit but admission to this prestigious institution was an expensive affair. Around 1000 rupees was required and my father could not spare that much money. My. sister Zora Mott gaged her gold bangles and chain to settle my fee. I was deeply touched by her determination to see me educated and by her faith in my abilities. What fascinated me most at MIT was a site of two decommissioned aircrafts displayed there. I felt a strange attraction towards them and would sit near them long after other students had gone back to the hostel. After completing my first year when I had to opt for a specific branch, I almost spontaneously chose aeronautical engineering. in the course of my education at MIT 3 teaches shape my thinking. Professor Sponder Professor KAV Pandale and Professor Nursing Rao. Professors ponder taught me technical aerodynamics. I consulted him before opting for aeronautical engineering. He told me that one should never worry about one's future prospects instead. It was more important to lay sound foundations to have sufficient enthusiasm and an accompanying passion for once chosen field of study. I myself would like to tell all novitiate engineering students that when they choose that specialization, the essential point is to consider whether the choice articulates that inner feelings and aspirations. Professor KAV Pandalay taught me aerostructured design and analysis. He was a cheerful, friendly and enthusiastic teacher who brought a fresh approach to every year's teaching course Professor Nursing Rao was a mathematician who taught us theoretical aerodynamics. After attending his classes, I began to prefer mathematical physics to any other subject. MITI went to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. HAL. At Bangalore as a training. two alternative opportunities for employment, both close to my long standing dream of flying, presented themselves before me when I came out of HAL as a graduate aeronautical engineer. 1 was a career in the Air Force and another was a job at the directorate of Technical Development and production at the Ministry of Defense. I applied for both the interview calls arrived from both the places almost simultaneously. I was. asked to reach Dehradun by the Air Force recruitment authorities and daily by DTD and P. my destination was more than 2000 kilometers away and was to be my first encounter with a vastness of my motherland. through the window of the compartment I watched the countryside slip past. it is astonishing how landscape changes as one moves not works. I halted for a week in Delhi and appeared for the interview at DTD and BI did well at the interview. Then To Dehradun for my interview at the Air Force Election Board I could only finish 9 in the back of 25. I was deeply disappointed. And it took me some time to comprehend that the opportunity to join the Air Force had just slipped through my fingers. I tricked down to Rishikesh with the knowledge that the days ahead would be difficult. I bade in the Ganga and walked to the Shivan in the Ashram, situated a little way up the hill I met Swami Shivananda, a man who looked like a Buddha, wearing a snow white D and wooden slippers. I was. stuck by his irresistible, almost childlike smile and gracious manner. I told him about my unsuccessful attempt to join the Indian Air Force and my long, cherished desire to fly He smiled and said, desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, possesses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is released into the ether each night as the mind falls into the sleep state. Each morning, it returns to the conscious state, reinforced with the cosmic currents that which has been imaged, will surely and certainly be manifested. Lay young man upon this ageless promise as surely as you can rely upon the eternally unbroken promise of sunrise and of spring. I returned to Delhi and inquired at the DTDP about the outcome of my interview. In response, I was handed my appointment letter. I joined the next day as senior scientific assistant on a basic salary of rupees 250 per month. Three years past, then the. aeronautical development establishment. ABE was born in Bangalore, and I was posted to the new establishment. Bangalore as a city was in direct contrast to Kanpur, where I had been posted during my first year at the direct rate. In fact, I feel our country has an uncanny way of bringing out extremes in our people. I suppose it is because Indians have in both afflicted and enriched by centuries of migrations. Loyalty to different rulers has dialed our capacity for a single allegiance Instead, we have developed an extraordinary ability to be compassionate and cruel, sensitive and callous, deep and fickle, all at the same time, to the untrained eye. We may appear colorful and picturesque to the critical eye where but shoddy imitations of our various masters. in Kanpur, I saw panchoing the imitations of Wajid Alisha and in Bangalore. It was replaced by dog walking sights. in Bangalore too. I longed for the depth and calmness of Rameshwaram. The workload at ade during the first year was quite light. A project team was formed to design and develop an indigenous hovercraft prototype in three years. The whole craft completed ahead of schedule was christened Nandi after the after the bull ridden by Lord Shiva for a prototype. The form fit and finesse was beyond our expectations. However, to my great disappointment, the project became mired and controversies and had to be shelved. Professor MGK Menon, director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Beta's a surprise visit one day, asking me several questions about Nandi. He requested a 10 minute ride in the whole craft with me a week. later I got a call from Inkuspa, the Indian Committee for Space Research. I went to Bombay to attend the interview for the post of a rocket engineer. I was. interviewed by Dr Vikram Saravi along with Professor MGK Minan and Mr Saraf. Then the deputy secretary of the Atomic Energy Commission. I was almost immediately struck by Dr Sarabhai's want. The next evening I was told about my selection. I was to be absorbed as a rocket engineer at Inkuspa. sometime in the latter half of 1962 Inko's part took the decision to set up the Equatorial rocket launching station at Thumba. A sleepy fishing village near Trivandrum in Kerala. This. was the quiet beginning of modern rocket based research in India very soon after this I was asked to proceed to America for a 6 month training program on sounding rocket launch and techniques at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA I took. I took some time off before going abroad and went to Rameshwaram. My father was very pleased with this opportunity that had come away He took me to the mosque and organized a special namaz in Thanksgiving.