igniting minds

In the passing away of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India has lost not only a visionary scientist and an institution-builder, but also a staunch nationalist who was an inspirational figure for people across generations. Turning India into a developed country of the first world was his dream, and he set about making this a reality through words and deeds, first as scientist, then as the President, and later, till the very end, as an ordinary citizen. Kalam began as a civilian rocket engineer and metamorphosed into a missile technologist, but it is as the “people’s president”, as the first citizen who was accessible and who stopped to listen to the grievances of ordinary men and women that he won the love and affection of his countrymen. In the fields of civilian space and military missile technologies, Kalam put India on the world map by laying strong indigenous foundations for them. When India joined the exclusive club of spacefaring nations comprising the U.S., Russia, France, Japan and China on July 18, 1980, Kalam was the Project Director of the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Since then, India has joined the world leaders in satellite launches and space research.

Kalam’s tenure in the Defence Research and Development Organisation and as the director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) at Hyderabad heralded immense achievements in missile technology; he was part of the team that envisioned India’s Guided Missile Development Programme. Projects such as the development of the Prithvi, Akash, Trishul and Nag missiles were undertaken. Kalam also insisted on the development of a strategic missile with re-entry technology, resulting in the Agni missile. He insisted that both ISRO and DRDO develop composites such as carbon-carbon, fibre-reinforced plastic, etc to make motor casings lighter so that the vehicles can carry a heavier payload. His consortium approach led to the indigenous development of phase shifters, magnesium alloys, ram-rocket motors and servo-valves for missiles. As scientific adviser to the Defence Minister, he helped conduct India’s nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998. But more than as a scientist and a technocrat, Kalam will be remembered for his tenure as India’s 11th president, when he moved the institution away from being merely formal and ceremonial in nature. He used the presidency as a platform to inspire youth, who were readily impressed by his earthy demeanour and discursive approach to public speaking. The missile man had his critics, but India’s most popular president leaves behind the legacy of more than one generation of inspired Indians.