The Missile Man of India had a heart of gold. Despite achieving amazing success on numerous fronts in life, he remained incredibly simple and humble.
When Kalam was requested at the IIT, Bhubaneswar to sit on a huge chair befitting a President as the chief guest, he humbly refused the offer as the chair was too big and elaborate like a throne among five smaller chairs on the dais. He humbly offered the decorated throne-like chair to the top university official and sat in a small one. This moving incident reminds people of the Shree Jagannath Temple Chief Administrator grabbing the big chair meant for the Gajapati Maharaja during meetings and sitting at the head of the table as if he were the boss. The Gajapati however said humbly that he is not averse to such impropriety because his little chair does not rob his stature.
While at the DRDO, Kalam had ordered not to put broken glass sharpnels on the boundary walls for protection as it would scare and harm birds landing there for rest. Kalam had said, "If we do that, birds will not be able to perch on the wall and sing chirping." He loved all creatures as the grand creation of God.
Soon after becoming President of India, Kalam was at a school to address 400 students when electricity failed. But he remained cool and told the huge crowd to come closer and gather around him. He
then gave a mesmerising lecture without any interruption for hours. He transmitted the idea that life can go on well in the absence of modern facilities.
When asked what he should do with his saved money, he had said that was not his money. It belonged to the public. People may not be aware that after becoming President, Kalam had donated all his hard earned money for the needy and poor. When he was still President, he had once asked Amul's Verghese Kurian what he should do with his money as the Government of India would take care of him lifelong. Kurien could not satisfy him with his ordinary proposals. So, Kalam gave away his entire saving to a worthy, genuine NGO called PURA engaged in providing critical infrastructure to deprived villagers in remote rural areas of India. The big NGO founders, most of them big talkers with alms money from external sources, must hang Kalam's picture in their community facilities for inspiration and inculcating the spirit of giving.
Kalam used to read everyday both Quran and Bhagvad Gita religiously before setting out on work. He respected all faiths. Very few Indians would know that his favourite musical instrument was Goddess Saraswati's Veena, which he played expertly for it inspired him no end.
He was so highly respected in Canada that the current Governor-General David Johnston delayed his oath-taking in 2010 so that he could personally confer the honorary doctorate on the celebrated former Indian President in the capacity of President of the University of Waterloo in Ontario.
Kalam was nominated for the MTV Youth Icon Award in 2003 and 2006. Switzerland celebrates May 26 as 'National Science Day' because Kalam visited that country on that day.
Kalam was the first scientist and unmarried President of India. The Government of India, despite terrible politicians in the successive executives, awarded Kalam the Bharat Ratna in good time. Indians now thank God that Kalam got it earlier than the cricket entertainer called Sachin who was made eligible by changing the selection criterion, an act by the UPA never to be forgiven by people.
Kalam, as the worthiest disciple of Vikram Sarabhai, is solely credited for all our successful space and missile missions. He made clear wherever he went that knowledge as power can dispel all human misery, no matter how enormous. Fortunately today, India is already recognised as a Knowledge Superpower.
Kalam was born in Rameswaram of Tamil Nadu, a famous Hindu pilgrimage. His father Jainulabuddin was a devout Muslim who rented out fishing boats for a meagre living. Interestingly, the principal priest of the Rameswaram temple and Kalam's father were great friends. Money was always short, and Kalam supplemented family earning by selling newspapers so that he could study. Rameswaram is a great Hindu pilgrimage, and Shillong is predominantly a Christian location, where a rare Muslim genius called Abdul Kalam died. Ironically, the successor President of India, already a former one herself, is a woman called Pratibha Patil who created history of a different kind by insisting on an eight-crore-rupee Mercedes S Pullman Guard limousine. She demolished all age-old protocol and rushed out to inaugurate small flyovers in little towns under pressure from son; and while leaving the Presidential palace at the end of the heavily criticised term, she took away all State gifts obtained during her countless foreign tours with family and sycophants, as part of the personal baggage to be caught and forced to return them later. She also got embroiled in a failed five-acre military land allotment to have a mansion built for her post-retirement residence. All hell broke loose and she cowered down in whimpers. The UPA-chosen first woman President is a lost character today.
*Around the same time, a big BJD honcho Kalpataru Das died all on a sudden. People were not aware of his carcinogenic ailments ever. He was a Rajya Sabha member and close to Naveen Patnaik. His son is also a legislator, a fact people have never taken well, more so because the father-son duo have amassed wealth out of proportions and grabbed land beyond imagination. The son has meanwhile coughed back several houses and plots availed by guile. Sanjay Dasburma, a Minister, is known as a great sympathiser to the Kalpataru family. Although it is against ethics to discuss blameworthy qualities of a person who is no more, Kalam's godly stature and extremely laudable contributions to mankind render conspicuous the smallness of other people who are being mourned at the same time.
*To close the story, a mention of Yakub Memon should be worthwhile. Yakub is guilty but not guilty enough to be put to death. Abu Salem, a more heinous criminal, came through an extradition process which gave him immunity against death. Yakub virtually surrendered in anticipation of a bit of amnesty. He returned home with some promise of justice if he cooperated. He has kept his promise fairly well. When Afzal Guru was killed all on a sudden, many an Indian intellectual felt hurt. Memon is guilty but not so badly as to be put to death. The entire world which respects the Indian judiciary eagerly waited for a just and humane verdict.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)