(15.10.1931 - 27.7.2015) Avul Pakir Jainuladeen Abdul Kalam was an Indian aerospace scientist and a politician...
(15.10.1931 - 27.7.2015)
He was in class V when the second World War, the largest conflict in human history, was on it's peak. Because of the the war all the resources were scare and the prices were not affordable. So, He had to take up his first job as a newspaper boy. His task was to pick up a bundle of Tamil newspapers and to deliver them to some local offices, some tea stalls and occasionally a few homes. Before I set out to distribute, Abdul Kalam used to sit on the bench there at the station, opens the bundle and carefully pluck out a copy of the daily newspaper Dinamani. The first page always caught him attention as it was usually filled with the photos of fighter aircraft's and stories of the second world war. The German Air force called Luftwaffe was sending hundreds of planes and bombers to attack the city and the British Royal Air force had to deploy their full air force to defend their motherland.
The stories would be about brave pilots from both the sides, and how they manoeuvred their aircraft and bomber's. As a young boy, Abdul Kalam used to lov the stories of the pilots and their planes. As Abdul Kalam was very curious about planes. He wanted to be a pilot himself.
Back into his village there were only a few peoples with whom he could discuss about aircrafts. As he belonged to a poor family no body went to school. However, he had the advantage of being in the company of great teacher's.
His curiosity grew in science because of very special teachers when he was a ten-year old boy in class V. This was indeed a life-changing event. Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam's science teacher's name Mr. Siva Subramania Iyer. One day the topic of discussion in his class of sixty-five students was 'how birds fly'. Mr. Siva Subramania Iyer drew a sketch of a bird with a tail, wings, feathers and a head on the board and explained how a bird flew. He explained how a bird could lift itself, fly and change directions by using it's wings and the tail. He asked them whether they understood. They had a gloomy answer 'No' Mr. Iyer did not get upset.
That evening Mr. Subramania Iyer took them to the seashore. The sunset, waves, cool breeze and the chirping of birds all together made it a very pleasant atmosphere. Mr. Subramania Iyer asked all of them to notice the how the birds make a formation in a group and fly. He also told them to notice the shape of the formation made by the birds while flying. He drew them attention towards how they flap their wings to fly higher and how they use their tail to change or propel the directions. Mr. Iyer also made them to notice how the birds is powered to fly itself. In 15 minutes, all the student's shouted "yes sir, we now understand how birds fly on their own".
The flight principle got imprinted in he mind and Mr. Abdul Kalam decided that in the future he will study subjects related to flight. However, as a little boy he needed guidance to pursue this field.
He asked his teacher Mr. Subramania Iyer to guide tell him how to pursue my interest. He told Abdul Kalam to study and explore the field of Aviation Science and aeroplanes. "This thing totally changed his life".
Whatever he had learnt that day changed his life. He was inspired to have an aim. Later Abdul Kalam realized how important it was to study Physics. He chose Physics. Then Mr. AJP Abdul Kalam became an aeronautical Engineering and a space technologist ,Madras. Mr. Iyer's class had transformed his life which led him to make a profession out of my passion. Aeronautics, or the science of flight,was special to him. His career began in this field.
After graduating from IIT, Madras, Dr. Abdul Kalam joined DRDO and designed helicopters for the Indian army. He was later transferred to the Indian space Research Organisation (ISRO) and worked as the project director for SLV-III, Indian's first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. In the year 1980 he joined the Indian Missile programme and made two missiles namely Agni and Prithvi for the Indian army. People affectionately called APJ Abdul Kalam as "Missile Man of India" Later he got a chance to work as a cheif scientific advisor to the prime minister of India from 1992 to 1999.In the year 2002, APJ Abdul Kalam was elected as the 11th president of India unanimously by all political parties. In 1997 the Government of India honoured him with the highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna. He dedicated his achievements to all his teachers who inspired him and had motivated him to serve his motherland throughout his life. In his autobiography 'the Wing's of fire', he mentioned that his teacher Shri Subramania Iyers lecture was the turning point for all of his accomplishments.
Some events bring about a remarkable change in the life of an individual. Such events became the turning points in the life of APJ Abdul Kalam when he was in class V, which was the turning point in his life... ☘️🍀
Jai Hind... 🇮🇳🇮🇳
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