Name: A. P. J Abdul Kalam
Born: 15 October 1931, Rameswaram
Death: 27 July 2015
Famous Books: Wings of Fire, Vision 2020, Turning Points, Ignited Minds

Since the time when Greeks and Romans were believing that the Sun might revolve around the earth, India has been a torchbearer in the field of astrology, astronomy and aerospace science. The rich Vedic tradition of India has formulated some important concepts a long time ago that is still to be discovered by the new age scientists. Moreover, the current height of ISRO reflects the same that we are heading in the right direction. It is quite uncommon to talk about Indian aerospace and not to talk of Dr A. P. J Abdul Kalam, popularly known as the missile man of India. He has changed the shape of India in the field of space invention and defence systems. Other than being a hardworking scientist, the president of India and a famous teacher who loved teaching, he was a prolific writer as well. As a writer, he tried his best to shape the future generation in a good way by his famous, bestselling and much-needed books.

Personal Life:

A. P. J Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in Tamilnadu. He was raised and brought up there. He has done his schooling there and lived most of his life there. He was a bright student since the start of his academic life. He graduated in physics from the University of Madras. He moved to Madras Institute of Technology to study aerospace engineering. He was a hard-working student and have a desire to be a pilot in the Indian Air Force. He gave his life to pursue his dream but fate was looking for something else.

He failed in the examination and remained, for some days, in shock. He visited Yogis and Gurus in Uttrakhand where he has learned important lessons of life. He was greatly influenced by the Dharmic teachings of Bhagwad Gita, the great doctrine of life, Karm, Yog and Bhakti by Sri Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Mahabharat. He accepted the reality of his life and embraced what came his way. Luckily for India, he joined DRDO from where he never stopped and kept moving towards becoming a great scientist. He also rejected many offers to work outside India and remained devoted to the motherland. He later became the president of India in 2002.

His Writings:

Kalam was a scientist and philosopher who has written many books. His ideology and philosophy were to inspire the young minds of India. His writings and language are simple but the arguments are really strong. He was not so much interested in the frontbenchers of the class rather he was interested in the development of the backbenchers in the class.

Kalam began his career as a scientist and ended it as a teacher. He was a natural teacher who got along with students very easily and also effectively. His dream was to develop India into a knowledge superpower. And he was sure that only youths can lead his dream towards reality. He was pretty precise and concise in his thoughts. His writings are practical and easily understandable and can be practised in real life as well.

Dr Kalam has seen enough struggles in his life and that is reflected in his writings as well. Some of his books are with examples embedded from his own life, experiences and lessons he learnt, hardships that he went through and achievements that he ennoyed. However, as a writer, he is careful enough to let the readers decide the course of their lives themselves. He was interested in igniting the minds of youth so that they can make their own decisions and choose the path for themselves. This will be not wrong to say that his writings are sharply based on the issues related to youths. He was interested in them and he wanted from the core of his heart that our future generation should take the charge of innovations and technology in the upcoming years in order to make our country, India, a superpower… a country that can lead the world.

Major Books:

1. India 2020 (1998)
2. Wings of Fire (1999) Read Review: Wings of Fire – book review
3. Ignited Minds (2002)
4. You are born to Bollosm (2008)
5. Target 3 Billion (2011)
6. Turning Points (2012)

Though he has written many books in his lifetime these are the most famous books. You can also see translations of his works in many languages floating in the book market of countries other than India as well. Each of the books mentioned above is the best for youths and teenagers. You can buy these and many other books by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam from Amazon India by clicking the link below:

Buy books by Dr Kalam – click to buy from Amazon India

Major Awards:

1. Padma Bhushan
2. Padma Vibhusan
3. Bharat Ratna
4. Von Braun Award
5. Serving as the President of India

Though he has received many awards these are the most important ones in his life. He has received an honorary doctoral degree from different universities in the world.

Conclusion:

Dr Kalam was a great personality who is praised by everyone and hated by none (we cannot control what others think, though, and there are some). He was born with a mission to boost the strength of India in the defence sector. India was lucky enough that he did not join IAF. His destiny demanded something else from him rather than becoming a pilot in IAF. He became the President of India and served the post for the complete term of five years. And while in office, he has made the post of president very apparent and friendly for the people. His love for kids was evident in most of his actions. After the completion of his term as the president of India, he did not choose to fight for the post again and accepted to teach the future generation of India in various universities. His personality will always remain a landmark in the history of Independent India (after the Britishers departed in 1947). His contributions to the cultural development of India by contributing to the date fixation (with available tools) of the major episodes of Indian History like the birth of Sri Ram and Sri Krishna, dates of the Mahabharata War will always be remembered.

By Amit for The Indian Authors