Tag Archives: APJ Abdul Kalam

APJ Abdul Kalam’s memorial is the new pilgrimage site in Rameshwaram

Rameshwaram, TAMIL NADU / INDIA:

A P J Abdul Kalam with children: an exhibit from the National memorial at Rameshwaram
A P J Abdul Kalam with children: an exhibit from the National memorial at Rameshwaram

In mid-December, when Suman and her husband Diwan Arora of Sonepat, Haryana, left for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, for performing the pilgrimage to one of the holiest sites of Hindus, little did they know that their journey would also take them to another sacred place – a memorial to the son of the soil Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam aka Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam.

“I didn’t feel like leaving the place,” said Suman, a retired central government official of her experience of visiting the National Memorial for the 11th President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, located in his native city of Rameshwaram.

Suman said that the moment she removed her shoe to enter the National Memorial she experienced a surge of positive energy inside her. She and other tourists paid obeisance to the People’s President at his resting place inside the memorial.

 “I was visiting the place after I visited the temple; there I felt I had entered another sacred place,” she told Awaz-the voice.

Suman and Diwan Arora in Rameshwaram

On her maiden journey to South India, Suman said she was as much awestruck by the grandiosity and architecture of temples – Rameshwaram, and Meenakshi at Madurai as with the simplicity and grandeur of the life of the great Indian –  A P J Abdul Kalam.

“Seeing the incredible architecture of the temples was a great experience. Visiting the Museum of President Abdul Kalam was no less. It was also like a pilgrimage.”

Though not hyped as much as many other places, the museum is on the Tourism map of Rameshwaram city. According to Aroras, even the local auto-rickshaw drivers who offer tour packages to visitors, recommend the museum as the first place.

Suman said although their tour was in connection with the seven-day Bhagwad Gita path (Narration of the Bhagwad Gita) and was organized by a religious group, a friend had advised her to visit the museum at any cost. “After visiting the place, I can never thank my South Indian friend enough,” Suman said.

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam’s memorial, Rameshwaram

Kalam’s grand-nephew APJMJ Sheik Saleem told Awaz-the voice that so far one crore people have visited the museum that was set inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27, 2017.

Sheik Saleem who recently joined the BJP runs his business and a Foundation for social work. He says he is privy to people’s devotion and love for his ancestor as they visit his memorial.

“The museum is visited by at least 7,000 visitors per day and so far about one crore have paid their obeisance to the people President,” Saleem told Awaz-the Voice.

“Earlier people came to our city for pilgrimage to the (Rameshwaram) temple but now the pilgrimage is combined with the visit to the national memorial for APJ Abdul Kalam,” he said.

“I have seen people coming to the place and feeling there is something great there. Many visitors do stand silently in front of the memorial, some bow their heads, and others simply go in the prayer mode as if they are seeking His blessings,” the former President’s grand-nephew said.

APJMJ Sheik Saleem with Home Minister Amit Shah

He said it’s touching and a humbling experience to see how much Indians cutting across religions or other barriers loved Dr. Kalam.

Suman, her husband, and many in their group spent nearly two hours inside the memorial. Visitors must enter barefoot and not use cameras or mobiles to click the pictures. All this adds to the sacredness of the space.

Saleem said since the place sees a high footfall, the cameras are forbidden simply because if everyone starts clicking there will be chaos.

Diwan Arora said the pilgrimage jatha comprised 300 people from Punjab and Haryana who visited Rameshwaram for “Bhagwat sapthah’ the weeklong narration of the Bhagwat Gita.

Meenakshi Temple and the Sea at Rameshwaram

Besides the museum, A P J Abdul Kalam’s childhood home has also been converted into a museum that his elder brother maintains. “It’s a smaller collection of photos and family memorabilia. The place is visited by at least 4,000 persons per day,” Sheik Saleem said.

The national museum maintained by the DRDO narrates the story of the life of India’s missile man from a newspaper hawker in the coastal city to India’s missile man and the most popular President. It showcases pictures and models of missiles, rockets, and the Pokhran Nuclear test that Kalam was involved in. His favourite Veena which he played every morning sitting on the bare floor even in Rashtrapati Bhawan is also displayed in the museum.

Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam lived in the Rashtrapati Bhawan from 2002 to 2007. He became the most loved and respected head of the nation to get the sobriquet of People’s President.

 Kalam was a respected scientist specializing in aerospace engineering. His simplicity and dedication to serving the country motivated many youths to follow his path and he became an inspirational figure for the youth of India.

House of Kalam: the private Museum dedicated to the memory of Dr. APJ Kalam inside his ancestral house in Rameshwaram

Inside the memorial, one can see the selected photos, paintings, miniature models of missiles, etc. The memorial is less than 1 km from Rameswaram.

The museum’s exhibits narrate the story of his life and achievements. It’s located on Mosque Street and is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

 A. P J Abdul Kalam was born and brought up in Rameswaram and became a scientist and worked for DRDO and ISRO before being chosen to become India’s 11th President by the then NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He passed away suddenly while attending the IIT Shillong convocation on July 27, 2015, and was laid to rest at Pei Karumbu, Rameswaram on 30 July.

According to the statement of the Museum, Dr. Kalam always reflected the simplicity, depth, and calmness of Rameshwaram throughout his life, and it’s showcased in his memorial. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 27th July 2017.

The memorial is spread over 2.11 acres of land, the memorial is constructed on the gravesite of Dr. Kalam, where his mortal remnants were put to rest on July 27, 2015. To pay tribute to India’s missile man, The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), with which Dr. Kalam had been associated for several years of his life, came up with an initiative to construct his memorial.

pix07

The memorial was constructed in a record time of nine-month at the cost of Rs 120 crore,

The Museum is also included in the recommended place in Rameshwaram by the Trip Advisor company.

On its website, people who visited the place have rated it very highly. Their comments in the review section show that the People’s President continues to be in the heart of Indians even after his passing away. For example, Saurabh from Patna, Bihar, says:

 ..must visit place for everyone. I’m a huge follower of Bharat Ratna Late APJ Abdul kalam sir. It was inaugurated by Our prime minister in 2017. Here you can learn many things about Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam sir.

I visited this and will recommend every people to visit this place and should remember the person who shape and sculpt the Indian defense and space research organisation.

A Tourist from Bangladesh wrote in the same section:  “A scientist and leader has been honoured in the best way in his birthplace “

Another tourist to the museum from Hyderabad wrote:

.. A fitting tribute to the great son of India. Amazing that a man with such humble origins and from a very small town rose to the highest office in this country. A must-visit for students and youth who can take inspiration from the great man’s life. Plenty of Photographs, a peek into the life of Dr. A.J.P. Abdul Kalam.

A visitor from the NCT of Delhi wrote on Trip Advisor’s website :

Not only a memorial but a temple or place of worship where you can motivate yourself how an innocent boy who was used to distributing newspapers in a nearby area has become India’s first citizen. The place is full of photographs, a replica of missiles, statues, Samadhi, and many more … a calm environment despite of rush of school children.. A must-visit place at Rameshwaram.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by Aasha Khosa, New Delhi / July 27th, 2023

Sons stitch together Kerala tailor’s dream of ‘longest’ Quran copy

Eruva (near Kayamkulam), KERALA :

The dream of a tailor at Eruva near Kayamkulam was fulfilled by his four sons who created the 3.1-kilometre-long handwritten copy of the Quran in the world.

Noushad and his sons with the box in which the collar cloth rolls of handwritten Quran are fixed on a rotator | Express

Alappuzha :

The dream of a tailor at Eruva near Kayamkulam was fulfilled by his four sons who created the 3.1-kilometre-long handwritten copy of the Quran in the world. Kadharsha Moulavi, son of M K Noushad, said his father’s dream was to create the holy text on a cloth canvas as a handwritten copy.

The Quran teacher of Tharbiyya Madrasa at Palluruthy in Ernakulam said, “He had expressed his wish a few years ago, but the lack of time did not allow us to complete the task. In the Covid lockdown period, we decided to undertake it. We etched the text on the stiff collar rolls of 1.5-inch width stitched together. It took us around 111 hours to complete the writing. Ten green marker pens and 40 bottles of ink were used and  and the whole project cost us Rs 20,000.” 

Noushad himself had created records by stitching a huge shirt joining the flags of 54 nations and made the Indian Tricolour using buttons. When the then president, APJ Abdul Kalam, came to Kochi in 2003, Noushad was called there and felicitated by him.

His four sons are educated in the Quran and Arabic studies and all are teaching in different institutions. Muhammad Shafi, a teacher of KIT School, Kayamkulam, said the siblings started the work on June 8 and completed it by July 26.

“As many as 155 collar canvas rolls were used to create the long strip. One collar canvas is 20m long. The copy was written using marker pens in neat handwriting. The special box to fix the canvass roll was designed by our father. People can read from Volumes 1 to 30 without any difficulty. If the reader turns the rotator fixed in the box, the text starts unrolling for easy reading,” Shafi said. “As per our knowledge, such a long handwritten copy of the holy text does not exist in the world,” he added. 

Noushad said the national flag with buttons was a novel idea and he got several accolades for it. He had tried to get these recognised by the Guinness World Records but could not pursue it  then. “President Abdul Kalam felicitated me after hearing about the flag. I had stitched it using 20,454 buttons and presented it during the official Independence Day celebrations in Kayamkulam on August 15, 2003.

Another initiative was a shirt that was stitched together with the flags of 54 countries. Each flag was stitched in my shop and the shirt in the end had a height of 10 feet. It was released on the 54th Republic Day in 2003.

I had also created a floral arrangement using small pieces of clothes on the Thiruvonam day in 2004,” Noushad said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Biju E. Paul / Express News Service / September 26th, 2020

How this simple, God-loving Indian Muslim left behind such an enduring legacy

NEW DELHI / Rameswaram , TAMIL NADU :

Illustration by Arindam Mukherjee/ ThePrint.in
Illustration by Arindam Mukherjee/ ThePrint.in

All communities loved and trusted him, but he rose to be the Muslim most loved by India’s Hindu majority in our entire history, possibly since Mughal Emperor Akbar. 

On his third death anniversary, it’s a reckless way to assess the life of one of India’s most loved public figures, but let’s list some of what former president APJ Abdul Kalam wasn’t.

He wasn’t really a scientist in the classical sense of the term. He didn’t have many peer-reviewed publications. He wasn’t the father of the Indian nuclear bomb. It had been put together collectively by two generations of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) scientists.

He didn’t quite have the gift of oratory and mostly repeated his platitudes. In a Raisina Hill mansion peopled before him by great men of letters, he wasn’t much of a writer either. He never got married, was not a family man. Nor was he a politician or public figure by upbringing or training. Most of his life was spent in the secretive world of weapon-designing. And, much as he loved to recite Sanskrit shlokas and play the rudra veena, he was a simple, God-loving Muslim.

Then think about what he ended up becoming.

He came to be hailed among our greatest scientists ever, in the class of C.V. Raman and Jagadish Chandra Bose, way above his mentors’ generation of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai or his peers in DAE, ISRO and DRDO. He is immortalised in our collective memory as the man who gave us our nuclear deterrent. He became our most popular public speaker across generations, geographies and demographics in India, and never spoke at a hall less than bursting at the flanks with standees.

The books he wrote, India 2020, for example, were in the nature of pontifical DIYs but became the biggest non-fiction sellers in our history and shall remain so for a long time. He became the leader most loved by our children after Chacha Nehru, a benevolent Nana Kalam. His stature grew so phenomenally that he became our most political president, and in an entirely wise and non-partisan manner.

All communities loved and trusted him, but he rose to be the Muslim most loved by India’s Hindu majority in our entire history, possibly since Mughal Emperor Akbar. Way more than Maulana Azad or any other. The perfect detox to Jinnah.

And finally, a fact that even I, with my thick skin, was too scared to put in the list of what he wasn’t: He never had a real doctorate, a PhD. His doctorates were all honoris causa but “Dr” fitted him brilliantly, and not even his worst critics dared to highlight this.

So what did he have that lifted him to such love and respect?

He acquired moral authority that few Indians have had since Independence. It came from his humility, to begin with. You never heard him claim credit for any ISRO-DRDO achievements, never a boast, never heard him complain about anybody or anything. Surely, for somebody who worked all his life in a secretive tech establishment behind an iron curtain of bureaucracy, he had had his share of complaints. He never played to the gallery or used these as excuses for failure.

In April 2001, I wrote the first of my two National Interests deeply critical of him and the failures of DRDO under him (‘Kalam’s Banana Republic’), and the next time I ran into him, literally, jogging from the opposite direction in south Delhi’s Siri Fort Sports Complex, where he walked in the evenings (he lived in a DRDO guesthouse in the Asian Games Village next door), he noticed I was avoiding eye contact in fright. He stopped, with a big smile, and said he wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed that article and how he agreed with it entirely.

“I hope the authorities read it also. There are very serious challenges and shortcomings in DRDO. We need to do something,” he said, as I searched his face for sarcasm. But as anybody who got to know Kalam over time, he never spoke between the lines.

His nomination as president was a Vajpayee-Advani masterstroke. Theirs was India’s first BJP-led government and they were conscious of the need to look-feel inclusive. Someone already a national hero with a Muslim name was going to be an asset. But the way Kalam grew with the job surprised them as well.

His was a most reassuring presence during the stand-off with Pakistan (Operation Parakram) when, for at least a year, we remained a hair-trigger away from war. His was just the healing touch India needed after the Gujarat riots. He intervened with great circumspection and maturity, not sounding partisan in the least, and yet letting his mind be known. His was the most effective intervention of all and delivered in such a sophisticated manner that even the Hindus only ended up respecting him more.

The legacy of Kalam is more profound than just this, though. How profound was underlined by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in Karan Thapar’s fine interview with him for the India Today Group.

He reminded us that without Kalam’s intervention, there would have been no nuclear deal with the US. As the monsoon session of Parliament began in 2008, and Prakash Karat announced that he was withdrawing support to the UPA and would also vote with the BJP to bring down the government on the nuclear deal, the numbers were stacked against Manmohan Singh. He won his riskiest political battle with the defection of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Originally, and particularly given his Muslim vote bank, Mulayam was strongly opposed to the nuclear deal. The Congress reached out to Mulayam for a backroom give-and-take. But Mulayam needed a fig leaf. This was provided by Kalam as he came out strongly in endorsement of the agreement. From that moment on, Mulayam and Amar Singh only parroted: If Dr Kalam says it’s fine, it must be so. In fact, if you go back to the parliamentary debate on that confidence motion, see the passion with which Asaduddin Owaisi defends the nuclear deal, turning his politics inside out. Kalam, the patriot, provided the cover there too.

Surprisingly, this still remains a relatively less remembered intervention and has not been noted prominently in countless obituaries and tributes written on him. But the fact is, until then, not just the “secular” parties but even the nuclear-scientific establishment had grave suspicions about the deal that would separate military from the civil and bring both out of the closet. Kalam settled these.

He could do it only because he always put the nation first. Just a year earlier, the Congress had humiliated him by denying him a second term that he had agreed to accept if there was unanimity. The Congress vetoed it. This was a perfect moment for Kalam to get even and also return the favour to the BJP, which had rewarded him with Bharat Ratna and the presidency.

So here are some other things Kalam wasn’t. He wasn’t petty, cynical, selfish, vengeful, unprincipled, egoistic. That’s why a billion-plus remember him as their most loved leader in decades.

Postscript: My favourite Kalam story is among my earliest. In 1994, India was hit by the so-called ISRO spy scandal. It was alleged — and widely believed — that two eminent ISRO scientists had been caught by Pakistani intelligence in a honey trap using two Maldives women, and had passed strategic rocket secrets to them. Investigating the story for India Today, I found the entire plot fishy and fictional. The story the magazine published demolished the Kerala Police and Intelligence Bureau case, the scientists were freed with full vindication and honour, cases withdrawn and ultimately the Supreme Court ordered cash compensation to those framed.

One of the scientists, Nambinarayanan, acknowledged as much in his recent autobiographical account. But early on, it was very stressful to go against the folklore that had already been built. And even in those pre-internet days we who busted the myth were subjected to enormous abuse.

Subsequently, at an Army Day (January 15) reception, Kalam, then head of DRDO, caught me for a couple of minutes’ chat. He poked me gently in my chest, to the left, and said, what you have done is like applying balm to the wounds on our hearts. I asked him what that was about. The ISRO story, he said. Those scientists are wonderful people and totally innocent, this false case would have destroyed my ISRO (where he had originally worked), he said. You can read that story on India Today’s website.

New plant species from West Bengal named after former President Abdul Kalam

TAMIL NADU / WEST BENGAL / NEW DELHI :

Drypetes kalamii: The plant is found in the wet, shaded areas of subtropical, moist semi-evergreen forests, at heights of 50-100 metres.
Drypetes kalamii: The plant is found in the wet, shaded areas of subtropical, moist semi-evergreen forests, at heights of 50-100 metres.

The plant is named after former President Abdul Kalam

Scientists from the Botanical Survey of India have identified a new plant species from two protected National Parks in West Bengal. Named Drypetes kalamii, it is a small shrub found to be shorter version of its close relative Drypetes ellisii. This adds to the rich floral wealth of India.

Standing just 1 metre tall, the newly described plant is unisexual in nature, which means they have separate male and female plants.

“During the survey and documentation of the flora of Buxa National Park, West Bengal (core area of Buxa Tiger Reserve), in 2011, I came across these plants, but could not identify them. Another author of the paper had collected a new female plant with fruits from Jaldapara National Park, West Bengal. The fruiting specimen can be easily identified in Drypetes. We later found that both the plants belonged to the same species. Further consultations with plant biologists from India and abroad helped us confirm its new identity,” says Dr Gopal Krishna from BSI who is the first author of the paper published in Phytotaxa. The researchers compared the new plant with other Drypetes species and found differences in the leaf, flower and fruit structures. There are about 220 species of Drypetes identified across the globe of which 20 have been reported from India.

Medicinal cousin

“The new species is a close relative of a medicinal plant known in Sanskrit as Putrajivah”, says Dr K. Karthigeyan, scientist at BSI and corresponding author of the work. “NASA had recently named a new bacterium after Dr Kalam, and we also chose his name as he is a big inspiration for students and young researchers,” adds Dr Karthigeyan.

The new species is found in wet, shaded areas of subtropical moist semi-evergreen forests, at a height ranging 50-100 metres. With pale yellow flowers in clusters and bright orange to red fruits, the plant is exclusive to the two national parks.

By following the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) rules, the scientists have provisionally assessed the plant to be “Critically Endangered”. The report states forest fires and grazing as two plausible threats to the new species.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by Aswathi Pacha / February 24th, 2018

A Tribute to Kalam – A R Rahman Musical | GV Mediaworks

TAMIL NADU / INDIA :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9n8l_EgCmQ

GV MEDIAWORKS

Published on Oct 15, 2017

Here is a very special tribute from team Kootathil Oruthan to the one person who, Till date continues to inspire everyone with his words and deeds and raised India to its heights – Honorable Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

In tribute to Kalam, NASA names new species after him

 

Kalam had his early training at NASA in 1963 before he set up India's first rocket-launching facility in the fishing village of Thumba in Kerala. DH Photo
Kalam had his early training at NASA in 1963 before he set up India’s first rocket-launching facility in the fishing village of Thumba in Kerala. DH Photo

In great news for India, scientists at NASA have named a new organism discovered by them after the much-loved A P J Abdul Kalam.

Till date, the new organism — a form of a bacteria — has been found only on the International Space Station (ISS) and has not been found on earth!

Researchers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the foremost lab of NASA for work on inter-planetary travel, discovered the new bacteria on the filters of the International Space Station (ISS) and named it Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late president, who was a renowned aerospace scientist.

Kalam had his early training at NASA in 1963 before he set up India’s first rocket-launching facility in the fishing village of Thumba in Kerala.

“The name of the bacterium is Solibacillus kalamii, the species name is after Dr Abdul Kalam and genus name is Solibacillus which is a spore forming bacteria,” said Dr Kasthuri Venkateswaran, senior research scientist, Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at JPL.

The filter on which the new bug was found remained on board the ISS for 40 months. Called a high-efficiency particulate arrestance filter or HEPA filter, this part is the routine housekeeping and cleaning system on board the international space station.

This filter was later analysed at JPL and only this year did Venkateswaran publish his discovery in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology.

According to Venkateswaran, even as it orbits the earth some 400 kilometres above, the ISS is home to many types of bacteria and fungi which co-inhabit the station with the astronauts who live and work on the station.

Venkateswaran said even though Solibacillus kalamii has never been found on earth till date, it is really not an extra-terrestrial life form or ET.

“I am reasonably sure it has hitch hiked to the space station on board some cargo and then survived the hostile conditions of space,” explained Venkateswaran.

Naming the new microbe after Kalam was natural to Venkateswaran and his team.

“Being a fellow Tamilian, I am aware of the huge contributions by Dr. Kalam,” he said.
New bacteria are usually named after famous scientists.

Venkateswaran is part of a team which is asking that eternal question “are we alone in the universe?”

Towards that, his responsibilities include monitoring the bug levels on the ISS and he also has to ensure that all spacecraft that fly to other planets are free of terrestrial bugs.

One of his big jobs was to ensure that NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover — the massive car-sized almost 1000 kg buggy — was totally sterile when it left earth.

By international law, this extreme hygiene is required else other planets could get contaminated by bugs that reach the Martian or other planets hidden on human satellites.

Today the ISS is the size of a football field and its construction started with a launch in 1998 and as of now it is the largest human-made object orbiting the earth.

Weighing about 419 tonnes, it can house a maximum of six astronauts and has costs roughly USD 150 billion.

Till date, 227 astronauts have flown to the space station. This makes the space station actually a very dirty place and maintaining hygiene is critical so that humans can live on it with ease.

On the space station all the air and water is recycled, being a completely closed environment there is a rapid build- up of moulds and bacteria on the station.

These not only have to be cleaned but monitored to ensure that they do not corrode the walls of the space station and do not turn hazardous to the astronauts.

Venkateswaran’s main job is to monitor the environment of the space station so that harmful bugs do not proliferate.

He heads the ‘Microbial Observatory’ on the ISS projects to measure microorganisms associated with compartments owned by the US.

According to NASA, he also directs several research and development tasks for the JPL – Mars Program Office, which enables the cleaning, sterilisation, and validation of spacecraft components.

He directs several NASA competitive awards on the microbial monitoring of spacecraft and associated environments for the Exploration System Mission Directorate, closed habitats like ISS or its earth analogues for the Human Exploration and Operation Mission Directorate.

But is the new bug of some use.

“These spore formers tend to withstand high radiation and also produce some useful compounds protein wise which will be helpful for biotechnology applications,” Venkateswaran said.

His team has not characterised the bacteria fully but he hints that the new bug could be a key source for chemicals that can help protect against radiation damage.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home / Press Trust of India, Los Angeles / May 21st, 2017

As India Mulls Over An Apt Tribute, UN Renames Satellite After APJ Abdul Kalam

Tamil Nadu, INDIA :

While India mulls over giving an appropriate tribute to the late former India President APJ Abdul Kalam and fights over his social media accounts, the UN has decided to name a satellite after the late scientist as a tribute to celebrate his vision.

Founded in 1999, CANEUS (CANada-Europe-US-ASia) serves to develop a common platform for space technology solutions for natural and man-made disaster management. The ‘GlobalSat for DRR’ is a UN-driven global initiative on sharing space technology for disaster risk reduction, Milind Pimprikar, chairman of CANEUS, told IANS.

KalamMPOsfeb2017

The satellite will provide a common platform that will allow sharing of space and data segments, with an ability to serve individual nation’s disaster management and development needs, IANS reported.

Talking about the similarities between the satellite and Dr. Kalam, Pimprikar said, “In his ‘World Space Vision-2050’ Mr. Kalam had envisaged space faring nations joining hands to find solutions to mankind’s major problems such as natural disasters, energy and water scarcity, health-care education issues and weather prediction. Therefore we now plan to dedicate the UN GlobalSat initiative as a tribute to Late Dr. Abdul Kalam by renaming it ‘UN Kalam GlobalSat’.’

KalamMPOs22mar2017

He hopes that the renaming will inspire new generations and scientists, and they’ll strive to work like Dr Kalam.

source: http://www.scoopwhoop.com / Scoop Whoop / Home / by Isha Jalan / August 08th, 2015

Point of View : Inspiring the young To Learn, To Dream, To Achieve ; Why Kalam is still a driving force in India

by T.J.S. George

The way the anniversary of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s death was observed in the country was revealing. It was naam-ke-wastay at establishmentarian levels. Media coverage was mostly of the beaten-path style; no editorials. No public meetings either. The Government satisfied itself with tokenisms — a formal statement by the Prime Minister that Kalam was irreplaceable, and the unveiling of a long-delayed statue at Rameswaram where the burial ground had remained neglected to the chagrin of the family and the locals. A big government advertisement announcing the foundation-laying ceremony of the Kalam National Memorial had the Prime Minister’s picture towering above all else.

The lukewarm attitude at official levels was in sharp contrast to the spontaneous enthusiasm at the level of ordinary people. It was a touching reiteration of Kalam’s title as the ‘People’s President’. That students were in the forefront of these expressions of love and admiration would have pleased the eternal teacher in Kalam. In a Chennai School, children created a large floral picture of their hero, then stood around his head forming a halo of tribute. In a school in Malabar children spent time reading Kalam’s words, then went out to tend plants and trees which he had told them, were precious. Students in Coimbatore planted a lakh of saplings. Another group announced a competition for school students to display their inventions. A sand artist livened up a beach in Puri with spectacular portraits of the Bharat Ratna. At the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, where Kalam died in the middle of a speech, students planted trees in his memory and announced a series of lectures on how to make the world a better place.

Kalam inspired the youth of India in ways no other leader did. He never had the glamour of a Jawaharlal Nehru or the oratorical gifts of a Vajpayee. His English was heavily accented. But those very weaknesses turned out to be his strengths. His genuineness shone through every word and gesture of his. His faith in young people energised the young and the old alike. The directness of his simple words hit home. Who would not be stirred to high endeavour when Kalam, his eyes sparking, tells his listeners: “You have to dream before your dreams come true”. A 2011 movie about a poor Rajasthani boy who struggled to study was titled, I am Kalam.

With one or two exceptions, the Presidents of India were great souls who brought honour to the country. Some like S. Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain, were Internationally respected scholars. Two were remarkable for their ordinariness, yet they were the ones who conquered the hearts of the people — K.R. Narayanan and Abdul Kalam. Interestingly, those were also the Presidents the political system got rid of as fast as it could.

Narayanan was so punctilious that he said and did things that went against the positions held by the Government in power. This and his view that there was government-level conspiracy behind the Gujarat riots of 2002 turned the BJP-led NDA Government against him. Narayanan retired after his first term. Kalam’s adherence to the rule book made the Sonia Gandhi establishment turn against him. So he, too, became a one-term President. But both men carved for themselves positions in public imagination and in the history books that others have not matched. Narayanan, for example, was the first President who insisted on exercising his vote as a citizen. Kalam wrote more than a dozen inspirational books, 22 poems and four songs. In his 70s, he was nominated twice for the MTV youth icon.

In the Indian context, perhaps Kalam’s most significant achievement was that he exposed the meaninglessness of religious identifications. He bore a 24-carat Muslim name and did his namaz. But he was also a vegetarian, read the Bhagvad Gita, played the rudra veena and listened to Karnatak devotional songs every day. He was an Indian in the true sense of that term. And, with all his traditionalism, a very modernistic rock star Indian; how else could we explain that lovingly tended pop-culture hairstyle?

It was no less an achievement that in the political jungle of Delhi, sitting in the citadel of Rashtrapathi Bhavan, he remained defiantly a-political. In fact, he was dreaded by the politicians for they could not contain him within their political lines. He lived true to the message he conveyed to his young listeners: “Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us.”

This was a man who belonged to the stars.

tjsoffice@epmltd.com / www.tjsgeorge.info

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by T.J.S. George /  August 02nd, 2016

Tailor who cycled 2700km to meet Kalam narrates how the former President ignited his mind

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

S Nagoor Meraan
S Nagoor Meraan

Chennai :

Seventy-year-old S Nagoor Meraan is a tailor by day and a watchman by night. Meraan is one of those scores of people whom you wouldn’t bother giving a second glance unless you come across his photograph with former President Abdul Kalam that adorns his makeshift workplace under a tree in Thiruvanmiyur here.

Pointing to the photograph, he recollects the story of pedalling all the way from his hometown Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu to Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi (over 2700km) in 2003 to meet the former President.

The idea of meeting Kalam was mooted when a Lions Club member told him to make use of his passion for cycling to attract the Missile Man’s attention.

Thus began the journey that lasted 35 days taking the Chennai, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal and Agra route. During the journey, he camped at police stations, open spaces and even strangers’ houses. “Curiously enough, not even once did my cycle tyres get punctured. It was a smooth journey. It was as if Allah was conspiring for my meeting with Kalam,” says Meraan, who’s now into his 70s.

Initially, his plans of meeting the former President was met with uncertainty. “When I reached Delhi, I couldn’t meet him immediately. I wrote a letter of my mission and dropped it in a guest box on the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises. Fortunately, he read the letter and extended an invite,” he says.

Meraan dined with Kalam during the rendezvous that spanned 35 minutes. “I had taken along with me a shawl to present to him. But he declined the offer citing the presence of many homeless in the capital city suffering due to extreme cold and asked me to give that to one of them,” he recollects.

He stayed in the official residence for two-and-a-half days and had his brush with a few politicians. During the time, they discussed issues such as world peace, humanity and a charter of demand for Meraan’s hometown among other things.

“Kalam sir asked me to make interacting with school students a habit. I had always hatched a plan to travel to Mecca, partly by cycling and partly otherwise. He strongly advised against it citing security issues,” says Meraan who has been a tailor for over three decades now.

Reflecting on Kalam’s first death anniversary, Meraan says, “He should have lived, instead of me.”

He is penning a collection of short poems and plans to publish the same in the near future if there are takers.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> India / Shilpa Vasudevan / TNN / July 27th, 2016

Seminar to know Kalam the poet

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

Lucknow:

Hindi-urdu Sahitya Award Committee, Uttar Pradesh is organising an International Literary Seminar on the poetic contribution of the former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam to literature.

The seminar is part of the annual celebrations of the committee which will be held on April 9 at Rai Umanath Bali Auditorium in Qaiserbagh.

Getting together people from both Hindi and Urdu backgrounds, the seminar will have writer and poet Ganga Prasad Vimal, Irtiza Karim, chairperson National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, Yogendra Narayan and Qazi OR Hashmi, Jamia Millia Islamia among other academicians and poets.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Lucknow / TNN / April 08th, 2016