Tripura Das (31) remembered the humanitarian gesture of former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He condoled the sad demise of Kalam, saying the former President was like a messiah to him.
According to Das, a resident of Kharanashi village, he was in dire need of a job as his family was reeling under abject poverty. He had written a letter on January 20, 2006 to Dr Kalam, who was the then President of India, urging him to provide him a job in the Special Relief Commission Office or in Police Department. Kalam responded instantly and had forwarded his letter to the then SP of Kendrapada on March 23, 2006 through the AIG of Police (Headquarters) directing the SP to arrange a driver post for him.
Das was married and became the father of three children in 2006. He did not have any agricultural land of his own to engage him in farming. He had experience in driving and was engaged by the district administration during the 2005 flood in the district. He described Kalam about his sorry plight. “I had written a letter in English that several driver posts were lying vacant in Special Relief Commission office and also in the police department. As I had completed my Plus II, I requested Kalam to arrange a driver’s post. To my surprise, Kalam directed the then SP to arrange a driver post for me,” said Das, who later switched over to the job of a Gana Shikshak.
Similarly, another youth Tapan Mandal of Badatota village under Mahakalapada block also mourned the death of Kalam, as Kalam helped him build his career.
According to Mandal, his dream of pursuing Masters degree in Computer Application (MCA) would have remained unfulfilled but for Kalam. “While my poverty-stricken family was struggling hard to meet both ends, I was to take admission in MCA. Funds crunch had become a hindrance. As a result, I wrote a letter to the then President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, by highlighting my problem and informing about my dream to go for higher studies. To my surprise, he came for my aid by directing the Chief General Manager of State Bank of India to provide monetary assistance of Rs 66,000 under higher studies loan. I later completed my MCA degree,” stated Mandal, who is now working as a senior software engineer (senior analyst) in Accenture at Bangalore.
The Good Samaritan that he was, Kalam also helped financially to two HIV positive siblings of Olavar village in July 2005. Kalam came for the rescue of the HIV infected orphans by providing Rs 20,000 in June 2005 after one of them had written a letter to him highlighting their sorry plight.
