Great thoughts make a man great. When a person of such great stature moves forward towards his goal in the field of ‘Karma’, adorning it with his ‘thought’, ‘speech’ and ‘deeds’, his feelings are like those powerful waves of the Ganges which take along with itself the winds providing it its coolness and giving a meaning to the mantra—‘Charaiveti’.
Reading the autobiography of Dr. Abdul Kalam—Wings of Fire—suggests that Dr. Kalam has, from the beginning to the end, kept in memory everyone who has played a role in his life, be they his adherents, inspirers, teachers, or sponsors. He has paid due respects and remembers them all. He has not forgotten to make a mention, in suitable words, of those who are his kith and kin, ancestors, friends, relatives, and his collegues and assistants in his working field. This is a virtuous quality which must be respected; and this is the quality which has taken him to the highest status. Dr. Kalam seems to be saying—‘My good wishes to everyone of those who has raised his hands praying to God for my well-being.’
Great grandfather Janab Avul Sahab : He puts the name of his great grandfather, Janab Avul Sahab, in the first place so that his sacred memory continues to remain in his heart.
Grandfather Janab Pakir Sahab : Next, in the sequence, is the name of his grandfather, Janab Pakir Sahab.
His father, Janab Jainulabdeen Sahab : Dr. Abdul Kalam takes pride in describing his father as a person who observed ‘Namaz’ very religiously, who was wise and extremely kind-hearted, honest, God-fearing and also a person who believed in communal harmony. He used to tell everyone—‘Have faith in God.’ He was extremely hard working and industrious.
His mother Smt. Ashiamma : In the fond memory of his mother he describes her with great respect as an ideal co-partner of his father’s life. In addition to it, while portraying his mother as a kind-hearted and ideal housewife, he does not forget to mention that in the distinguished family of his mother, one of her forebears had been bestowed the title of ‘Bahadur’ by the British.
Dr. Kalam gives a description of the simplicity of his family and the fundamental traditions and behaviour of the people of Tamil Nadu without any hesitation.
Shri Arun Tiwari—co-writer of the book : Dr. Kalam in his book—Wings of Fire—has made a mention of shri Arun Tiwari in very intimate words and has considered him an energetic and friendly assistant. Dr. Kalam came to know Shri Arun Tiwari well only when he visited him at the Intensive Coronary Care Unit of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. Shri Arun Tiwari sought his blessings so that he could have a longer life in order to be able to complete at least one of his (Dr. Kalam’s) projects.
Shri Ahmed Jallaluddin (brother-in-law) : Dr. Kalam makes a mention of Shri Ahmed Jallaluddin with pride, saying that he was their relative and helped his father in building a boat on the seashore which was supposed to carry pilgrims from Rameswaram to Dhanuskodi and back. Shri Ahmed Jallaluddin always encouraged Dr. Kalam during his academic life and was a great source of encouragement when Dr. Kalam was leaving India for his training abroad. He discusses his family’s close relationship with Shri Ahmed Jallaluddin and says that the relations were so intimate that ultimately he married Dr. Kalam’s sister, Zohara. Though Shri Jallaluddin’s schooling had been limited he was mentally so educated that he always guided him to the path of success.
Smt. Zohara, Dr. Kalam’s sister : While referring to the favour and encouragement extended to Dr. Kalam, he, expressing his gratitude towards his sister, Zohara, says that when the situation arose before his family to arrange an amount of one thousand rupees for his admission into the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT), which was something beyond their means, it was his sister, Zohara, who mortgaged her gold bangles and chain and arranged money for his admission.
He writes that his sister had tremendous faith and confidence in his capabilities. And it was this faith which led him to the path of success. Dr. Kalam was so touched by the sacrifice made by his sister that he vowed to release her bangles and chain with his own earnings as soon as he began earning, and also it was with her blessings that he stepped on the path of progress in his life.
His wellwisher—Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, high priest of Rameswaram temple : While giving a description of Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, high priest of Shiva temple, Dr. Kalam mentions with great respect how he inspired him by quoting the Bhagawad Gita during his discourses and taught him to proceed on the path of progress. He used to say—“Seek the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
Samsuddin, his cousin : Dr. Kalam has given a beautiful description of his cousin Samsuddin, who was his wellwisher in true sense. Samsuddin was the sole distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram and was almost like a guardian to Dr. Kalam. The readers of Dr. Kalam’s autobiography get a glimpse of his practical behaviour and outstanding characteristics. His autobiography depicts a picture of his inspiring expression, modesty and friendliness in true sense. People may have read autobiographies of so many great souls, but rare are those who have put their heart and soul while giving description of their dear ones.
Three friends of his childhood days : 1. Ramanadha Sastry, son of Shri Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, who later took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father. 2. Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims. 3. Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways. Though all the three friends of Dr. Kalam belonged to orthodox Hindu Brahmin families, there existed absolutely no differences amongst them because of their religious differences and upbringing.
His science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer : Dr. Kalam’s science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer was though an orthodox Brahmin, was not at all conservative. He was rather much against conservatism. He didn’t believe in casteism either.
He had great love for Dr. Abdul Kalam. He would say—“Kalam, I want you to develop so that you are on par with the highly educated people of the big citites.” His wishes were fulfilled to the fullest extent. Today his dear protege, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, is recognized internationally as ‘missile man’; today his protege is a ‘Bharat Ratna’ and, above all, the President of India. The sacred land of India shall always be proud of such a mentor and protege relationship.
Iyadurai Solomon : While giving a description of his teacher, Iyadurai Solomon, Dr. Kalam says that he was an ideal teacher for those young students who were eager to learn and yet were uncertain about the possibilities and alternatives that lay before them. He was an open-minded and affectionate teacher, and used to say in order to render proper guidance to his students—“To succeed in life and achieve results, you must understand and master three mighty forces—desire, belief, and expectation.” It is because of the teachings of his teacher that Dr. Kalam developed a desire to fly high in the sky, and the result is before the world. Iyadurai Solmon would say—“With faith, you can change your destiny.” And Dr. Kalam accomplished his teacher’s faith. Ramakrishna Iyer : He believed in observing discipline and making others observe discipline, and was a very strict teacher. One day Abdul Kalam, inadvertently, wandered into the classroom in which he was teaching, and thus, broke the norms of discipline of Ramakrishna Iyer. This was enough for Abdul Kalam to incur the wrath of the teacher. He was caned in front of the whole class. But, after a few months, when Abdul Kalam secured full marks in mathematics, his teacher narrated the incident to the entire school and said—“Whomsoever I cane becomes a great man! Take my word, this boy is going to bring glory to his school and to his teachers.” How true was the prophecy of his teacher, Ramakrishna Iyer, that Dr. Abdul Kalam is a person of great stature in the world today!
His elder brother Mustafa Kamal : He ran a provision store on the railway station road, which was sometimes taken care of by Abdul Kalam also. Mustafa Kamal would help him financially from time to time. In addition to this, he would collect tamarind seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street, and thus earn one anna in a day.
His younger brother Kasim Mohammed : He ran a shop of novelties made of seashells. Sometimes, after being spared by Mustafa Kamal from his shop, Abdul Kalam would help his younger brother, Kasim Mohammed, in selling the items of his shop. Abdul Kalam used to feel surprised to see the gifts offered by the sea in the forms of shells, conches, and pearls etc.
Rev. Father T.N. Sequeira : He used to teach English to the students of Intermediate classes. Rev. Father T.N. Sequeira used to visit each and every boy of the hostel every night with a bible in his hand displaying great energy and patience. It was on his instructions that the brother in charge of the hostel and the mess volunteers used to distribute good gingelly oil among the boys for ritual bath on the occasion of Deepavali. This shows how considerate he was.
Many other teachers : Several of Dr. Kalam’s teachers were true followers of Kanchi Paramacharya. Kanchi Paramacharya was one who generated in people the faith which evoked them to “enjoy the action of giving”. This was very inspiring for Abdul Kalam.
Mathematics teachers, Prof. Thothathri Iyenger and Prof. Suryanarayana Sastry : Dr. Abdul Kalam says that the memory of his two mathematics teachers walking together on the campus is still a source of inspiration to him.
His physics teachers Prof. Chinna Durai and Prof. Krishnamurthy : Dr. Kalam says that these two physics teachers introduced him to the concept of the half-life period and matters related to the radioactive decay of substances.
Prof. Sponder : He was an Austrian. He had rich practical experience in aeronautical engineering. He had also been captured and imprisoned by the Nazis in a concentration camp during the Second World War. He was a very quiet type of person and was equally energetic. He used to teach his students to work hard and study with zeal and patience.
Dr. Kalam was once greatly touched by his emotional feelings when during a group photograph session, as part of a farewell ritual, Prof. Sponder had made him sit in the front row, saying—“You are my best student and hard work will help you bring a great name for your teachers in future.” And while bidding him adieu he had said—‘‘Let God be your hope, your stay, your guide and provide the lantern for your feet in your journey into the future.”
Prof. Dr. Kurt Tank : Dr. Kurt Tank was a distinguished aeronautical engineer. He had designed the German Focke-Wulf FW 190 single seater fighter plane and also the first jet figher of India, the HF-24 Marut at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bangalore.
Prof. K.A.V. Pandalai : Prof. Pandalai had taught Dr. Abdul Kalam aero-structure design and analysis. He was a cheerful, friendly and enthusiastic teacher. Though he was a man of great intellectual integrity and scholarship, there was no sign of ego or arrogance in him. He would listen to the arguments of his students intently and make them feel free to disagree with him on several points in the classroom. Such was his greatness.
Prof. Narasingha Rao : He was a mathematician and taught theoretical aerodynamics. It was the result of his teachings that Dr. Kalam always remained absorbed in his job. Dr. Kalam is grateful to his teachers who taught him the secrets of Truth.
Design teacher Prof. Srinivasan, the then Director of the MIT : Prof. Srinivasan, after Abdul Kalam finished his course work, had assigned him a project to design a low-level attack aircraft together with four other colleagues. His responsibility was to prepare and draw the aerodynamic design.
Prof. Srinivasan reviewed his progress at the design work and declared it dismal and disappointing as he was not satisfied. In fact the stress was more on the time taken by Abdul Kalam. Finally he pleaded for one month’s time to complete the task assigned to him. But nothing worked. Giving an ultimatum Prof. Srinivasan said finally—“Look, young man, today is Friday afternoon. I give you three days’ time. If by Monday morning I don’t get the configuration drawing, your scholarship will be stopped.” This warning came like a profound shock to Abdul Kalam. This also was like a challenge to him, as the scholarship that he was getting was like a lifeline to him. He was determined to finish the job on time. There was nothing that could deter him from his determination. He remained at the drawing board throughout the night skipping his night meal.
He worked day and night and, on Sunday morning, when he was very near completion, he suddenly found Prof. Srinivasan watching him from a distance. He had come straight from the gymkhana and was still in his tennis outfit. He was so very happy to see Abdul Kalam’s progress on the drawing board that he hugged him affectionately and, patting his back, said—“I knew I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet an impossible deadline. I never expected you to perform so well.” Such was the power of determination of Dr. Abdul Kalam and such was the confidence of his teachers in him.
Swami Sivananda : When, in the year 1958, Abdul Kalam failed to get himself selected as a commissioned officer at the Air Force Selection Board, he, in his dejected mood, trekked down to Rishikesh, bathed in the holy waters of the Ganges and walked to the Sivananda Ashram, which was situated a little way up the hill. When he met Swami Sivananda he had the Darshan of Lord Buddha in him. Abdul Kalam’s being Muslim aroused no reaction in Swami Ji and, on the contrary, Swami Ji talked to him very affectionately. He said—“Desire, when it stems from the heart and spirit, when it is pure and intense, posseses awesome electromagnetic energy. This energy is released into the ether each night, as the mind falls into the sleep state. Each morning it reutnrs to the conscious state reinforced with the cosmic currents.” He further added—“That which has been imaged will surely and certainly be manifested. You can rely, young man, upon this ageless promise as surely as you can rely upon the eternally unbroken promise of sunsrise…and of spring.”
How true was what Swami Sivananda said—‘when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.’ Here the Guru is showing the path to his disciple from which he has deviated. He said—“Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life. You are not destined to become an Air Force pilot. What you are destined to become is not revealed now but it is predetermined. Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path. Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence. Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God.”
The words of Swami Ji filled Abdul Kalam with mental peace. Swami Ji’s sermons came like blessings to him and proved to be a boon for his future life.
Officer-in-charge, R. Varadharajan : He helped Abdul Kalam carry out a design assignment on supersonic target aircraft in which he attained complete success.
Dr. Neelakantan (Director) : He encouraged Abdul Kalam by appreciating his design.
The people of Kanpur : Abdul Kalam, when he went to Kanpur, saw paan-chewing imitations of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. He was saddened to see people coming in search of jobs, leaving behind their villages, only to be lost in the crowds, noise and smoke of Kanpur.
The Sahibs of Bangalore : Here Abdul Kalam saw the dog-walking Sahibs, but what he missed was the depth and calmness of Rameswaram.
Dr. O.P. Mediratta, Director of the ADE : Dr. O.P. Mediratta, Director of the Aeronautical Development Establishment asked Abdul Kalam to lead a team of four persons at the level of Scientific Assistant which was formed to design and develop an indigenous hovercraft prototype as a ground equipment machine.
The Wright Brothers who made the first aeroplane: The Wright Brothers’ making their first aeroplane after fixing bicycles for seven years became a great source of inspiration to Abdul Kalam when he was assigned a project to make a hovercraft within a stipulated period of three years.
Some of the senior scientists’ adverse comments on Abdul Kalam reminded him of the satirical poem of John Trowbridge on the Wright Brothers—
…With thimble and thread
And wax and hammer, and buckles and screws,
And all such things as geniuses use;—
Two bats for patterns, curious fellows!
A charcoal-pot and a pair of bellows.
V.K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister : Defence Minister Krishna Menon was extremely pleased to see the Nandi hovercraft which was christened after the name of the bull ridden by Lord Shiva.
V.K. Krishna Menon flew in the hovercraft and, encouraging Abdul Kalam, said—“You have demonstrated that the basic problems of hovercraft development are solved. Go for a more powerful prime mover and call me for a second ride.”
Abdul Kalam was greatly encouraged to hear the Defence Minister speak thus.
Prof. M.G.K. Menon, Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research : Prof. M.G.K. Menon came to Bangalore and expressed his desire to take a ride in the Nandi hovercraft. He was indeed very much impressed after taking a ride for ten minutes. And this was the impression of Abdul Kalam which helped him get a call for interview for the post of Rocket Engineer from the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR).
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (Director) : There is one complete chapter on Dr. Vikram Sarabhai contained in the earlier pages.
Mr. Saraf, the then Dy. Secretary of the Atomic Energy Commission : He had interviewed Abdul Kalam along with Dr. Vikram Sarabhai at the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR).
Dr. Chitnis of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad : He was the one who had selected and spotted Thumba where INCOSPAR decided to set up the Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. This place is near Trivandrum in Kerala.
Shri K. Madhavan Nair, Collector, Trivandrum : It was he who helped acquire a site of religious significance, St. Mary Magdalene church, in a most tactful, peaceful and expeditious manner, which was supposed to house the first office of the Thumba Space Centre. Generally it is very difficult to acquire lands of such religious importance.
R.D. John, the Executive Engineer of the Central Public Works Department : Mr. R.D. John transformed the entire area in order to establish a fully-fledged office.
Right Rev. Dr. Dereira, Bishop of Trivandrum : Shri K. Madhavan Nair, Collector, Trivandrum acquired the above mentioned site of religious importance with the blessings of Right Rev.
Dr. Dereira. D. Easwardas (a trusted colleague) : He played an active and crucial role in launching the Nike-Apache rocket. It was he who undertook the rocket assembly and arranged the launch.
R. Aravamudan (a trusted colleague) : Shri R. Aravamudan, whom Abdul Kalam and his team-mates called ‘Don’ with love, played an active and crucial role holding the charge of radar, telemetry and ground support.
John F. Kennedy, the then President of America : He, in 1962, expressing his objections to building missile sites by the Soviet Union in Cuba, forced them to remove the sites. Since the missile sites in Cuba could have enabled the Soviet Union to launch attacks on American cities, Kennedy imposed a blockade or ‘quarantine’, so that introduction of offensive missiles to Cuba could not materialise. He was assasinated in Dallas, Texas in the year 1962.
Soviet Premier Khrushchev : On the threat of America that any Soviet nuclear attack from Cuba on any country in the Western Hemisphere will be responded to by retaliating against the USSR, the Soviet Premier, Khrushchev, ordered that the Cuban bases be dismantled and the missiles returned to Russia.
Tipu Sultan, the Nawab of Mysore : He was the Nawab of Mysore in the eighteenth century. He fought many fierce battles against the British. Abdul Kalam, during his visit to Wallops Island in East Coast, Virginia, which was the base for NASA’s sounding rocket programme, saw a painting which depicted Tipu Sultan’s army fighting the British, and the soldiers of Tipu Sultan’s army were shown launching rockets from the side. Here Dr. Abdul Kalam brings a very important fact to the knowledge of his readers that after Tipu Sultan was killed during the battle of Turukhanahally in the year 1799, the British army captured more than 700 rockets and subsystems of 900 rockets. The army of Tipu Sultan had 27 brigades which were called ‘Kushoons’, and the company of rocket men in each brigade was called ‘Jourks’. These rockets were taken away to England by William Congreve and were subjected to a process which is known as ‘reverse engineering’ today. The sad demise of Tipu Sultan brought an end to Indian rocketry—at least for 150 years.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russia (1903) : He gave new dimensions to Rocketry.
Robert Goddard, USA (1914) : He gave new dimensions to Rocketry.
Hermann Oberth, Germany (1923) : He gave new dimensions to Rocketry.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India : It was due to the technological vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru that rocketry was reborn in India. He believed that if Indians were to play an important role in the community of nations, they shall have to be able to apply the latest technologies. It is only then that it will be possible to solve the problems of life.
Renowned Philosopher Khalil Gibran : Dr. Abdul Kalam has given a very important statement of Khalil Gibran in his autobiography—‘Wings of Fire’ : “Bread baked without love is a bitter bread that feeds but half a man’s hunger.”
Prof. Oda, Japan : He was an X-ray payload scientist from the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Sciences (ISAS), Japan. Dr. Abdul Kalam remembers him as a short statured person with a personality that was suggestive of his greatness and intelligence, and also as one who was totally dedicated to his work. He was an ideal prson possessing special virtues.
Prof. U.R. Rao : The X-ray payloads made by Prof. U.R. Rao and the X-ray payloads brought by Prof. Oda from ISAS used to be engineered by the team of Dr. Abdul Kalam in order to fit them in the nose cone of the Rohini Rocket.
Sudhakar, Abdul Kalam’s colleague : Sudhakar was Dr. Abdul Kalam’s colleague in the Payload Preparation Laboratory. One day, when Sudhakar and Dr. Kalam went into the payload room to confirm the proper filling of the mix of sodium and thermite, a drop of sweat from the forehead of Sudhakar happened to fall in the sodium, which resulted into a violent explosion. Fire began spreading, and this fire could not be extinguished with water.
Sudhakar did not lose courage at this hour of crisis. He broke the glass window with his bare hands and threw Dr. Kalam out without caring for himself. Sudhakar’s hands were injured and bleeding. Dr. Kalam was filled with a deep sense of gratitude to see his sacrifice. He touched Sudhakar’s bleeding hands, and Sudhakar smiled without giving any physical expression that would have been suggestive of pain. He had to remain in hospital for treatment for weeks together.
Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister : Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had visited Thumba in February 1969 to dedicate the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) to the International Space Science Community. The first filament winding machine in the laboratory of Dr. Abdul Kalam’s team was commissioned by her. This brought great satisfaction to the entire team. Smt. Indira Gandhi was keenly interested in the inventions pertaining to rockets.
C.R. Satya, P.N. Subramanian and M.N. Satyanarayana—team-mates of Dr. Abdul Kalam : These three team-mates along with Dr. Abdul Kalam had made high-strength glass cloth laminates to build non-magnetic payload housings and had flown them in two-stage sounding rockets.
George Bernard Shaw : Once Dr. Abdul Kalam had gone to Delhi to see Prof. Sarabhai on being called by him to see him urgently. Prof. Sarabhai’s Secretary, on being contacted for an appointment, asked Dr. Abdul Kalam to meet him at 3.30 a.m. at Ashoka Hotel. While waiting in the hotel lounge he happened to see a book lying on a nearby sofa. This book was related to business management. While skimming over paragraphs and turning pages, his eyes fell on a quotation from George Bernard Shaw. The gist of the quote as given by Dr. Abdul Kalam is—
‘…all reasonable men adapt themselves to the world. Only a few unreasonable ones persist in trying to adapt the world to themselves. All progress in the world depends on these unreasonable men and their innovative and often non-conformist action.’
Group Captain V.S. Narayanan, Air Headquarters : He, too, had an appointment with Prof. Sarabhai at Hotel Ashoka. He was a well-built person with an intelligent look and refined postures. Prof. Sarabhai took Dr. Kalam and V.S. Narayanan to Tilpat Range, which was on the outskirts of Delhi and, showing them a Russian RATO (rocket-assisted take-off system), said—“If I get you the motors of this system from Russia, could you do it in eighteen months time?” And the answer from both was in the affirmative.
Later, when the Missile Panel was formed in the Ministry of Defence, both, Dr. Abdul Kalam and Group Captain V.S. Narayanan, were inducted as members.
Jay Chandra Babu : He, too, was a colleague of Dr. Abdul Kalam and had newly joined the team. He was a man of positive thinking and was straightforward in his dealings. He had pointed out two major thrust areas, viz. inherent inelasticity in the approach of the organization towards procurement and sub-contracting, in order to avoid imports. He asked Dr. Abdul Kalam for seven liberties that would enable the team to avoid imports in making the RATO systems. They were—
(i) financial approval should be in the hands of one single person and not in the hands of an entire hierarchy; (ii) everyone, related to the project, should be entitled to air travel; (iii) everyone working on the project should be accountable to only one person; (iv) goods should be lifted by air-cargo; (v) sub-contracting to the private sector; (vi) placement of orders on the basis of technical comparison; and (vii) the procedure of accounting should be expeditious.
And thus, Jaya Chandra Babu exhibited his practical approach towards the requirements which would enable the team to fulfil its dream of making RATO system without involving the factor of imports.
Dr. V.R. Gowarikar : Prof. Sarabhai selected Dr. V.R. Gowarikar as one of the team-mates to give form to his dream of an Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle, and gave him the task of designing the three stages of the project. Dr. Abdul Kalam has praised him a lot for his outstanding performance in the field of composite propellants.
M. R. Kurup : He, too, was selected by Prof. Sarabhai to design the three stages of the project of Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle. Dr. Abdul Kalam says that M.R. Kurup had established an excellent laboratory for propellants, propulsion and pyrotechnics.
A.E. Muthunayagam : While he was engaged in the Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle project, designing the three stages, he gave an outstanding performance in the field of high energy propellants.
It has been a distinctive quality of Dr. Abdul Kalam that he appreciates all his colleagues and the others, who have worked with him, in most suitable words. He says that all the above three rendered special contribution to the science of rocketry.
Prof. Curien : While Dr. Abdul Kalam had thrown himself heart and soul into designing the fourth stage of the Satellite Launch Vehicle, Prof. Sarabhai brought a French visitor, Prof. Curien, to the work centre to point out the problem to him. Prof. Curien was President of CNES (Centre Nationale de Etudes Spatiales). He was, then, developing the Diamont launch vehicles.
Prof. Curien advised Prof. Sarabhai to relieve Dr. Kalam of all the less important jobs and suggested that he should be given more opportunities for achievement. He was greatly impressed to see the progress of work on the project of the Satellite Launch Vehicle.
He was surprised particularly for the reason that the rate of success of Dr. Abdul Kalam’s team in one year was more than what the European scientists could have achieved in a period of three years.
U. R. Rao : Prof. Sarabhai had chosen U.R. Rao for developing a telecommand system for the SLV. He was considered an experienced and intelligent person for this job.
G. Madhavan Nair : He, too, had been selected by Professor Sarabhai for developing a telecommand system for the SLV. He had rendered wholehearted dedication to the project that he was entrusted with. Later he became the Project Director of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
Prof. Satish Dhawan : After the sad demise of Prof. Sarabhai, Prof. Satish Dhawan was given the responsibility of heading the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He was a man of logic and intellect. His combination of degrees was unusual—a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics, an M.A. in English Literature, B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering followed by a Ph. D. in Aeronautics and Mathematics from the Californea Institute of Technology (Caltech) in USA.
Renowned Metallurgist, Dr. Brahm Prakash : The TERLS, the Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC), the Rocket Propellant Plant (RPP), the Rocket Fabrication Facility (RFF) , and the Propellant Fuel Complex (PFC) were merged together and included in the entire complex at Thumba to form an integrated space centre. This space centre was named Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). Christening the space centre VSSC was a tribute of Prof. Vikram Sarabhai to whom this space centre owed its existence. Dr. Brahm Prakash took over as the first Director of VSSC.
Air Marshal Shivdev Singh and B.D. Nag, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister : While the RATO system was being subjected to test on 8 October 1972 at Bereilly Air Force Station in Uttar Pradesh, when a Sukhoi-16 jet aircraft was airborne, the demonstration was watched by the above two.
Outstanding Scientists : Dr. Brahm Prakash had formed four Project Advisory Committees, of which the members were outstanding scientists like D.S. Rane, Muthunayagam, T.S. Prahlad, A.R. Acharya, S.C. Gupta, and C. L. Amba Rao.
Young engineers and SLV-3 project : Against the project requirement of 275 engineers to work on the SLV-3 project Dr. Abdul Kalam could get only 50 engineers. Of these engineers some of the young ones like MSR Dev, G. Madhavan Nair, S. Srinivasan, U.S. Singh, Sunderrajan, Abdul Majeed, Ved Prakash Sandlas, Namboodiri, Sasi Kumar and Sivathanu Pillai had developed their own ground rules designed to help them work with efficiency as a project team. The results produced at the individual and team levels were outstanding.
All these engineers were experts in their jobs and were industrious. They remained successful in all their endeavours. Dr. Abdul Kalam says that ‘each member of the SLV-3 project team was a specialist in his own field’.
While highlighting the extraordinary capabilities of some of the scientists Dr. Abdul Kalam says that today the members of the SLV-3 team are leading some of the country’s most prestigious programmes. MSR Dev is the Head of the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) project, Madhavan Nair is the chief of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project, and Sandlas and Sivathanu Pillai are Chief Controllers in DRDO Headquarters.
While appreciating their talents, Dr. Abdul Kalam says that each one of these scientists rose to his present position through consistent hard work and firm determination.
B.R. Somasekhar and Wing Commander P. Kamaraju : Dr. Abdul Kalam was selected as a rocket specialist in a review committee for evaluation of the work carried out in the Devil Project. This review committee was appointed by Prof. M.G.K. Menon who was the then Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and was head of the DRDO. This assessment of the work was going on under the leadership of Prof. M.G.K. Menon. The responsibility of Dr. Abdul Kalam was to evaluate the progress made in the areas of aerodynamics, structure and propulsion of the missile. B.R. Somasekhar and Wing Commander P. Kamaraju assisted Dr. Abdul Kalam while working on this project.
Dr. R. P. Shenoy and Prof. I. G. Sharma : They helped review the work done on the electronic systems. A group of brilliant and committed people in the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) : Dr. Abdul Kalam was greatly impressed by—
1. A.V. Ranga Rao—a great visionary
2. Wing Commander R. Gopalaswami—a dynamic person.
3. Dr. I. Achyuta Rao—known for his thoroughness
4. G. Ganesan—an enterprising person
5. S. Krishnan—known for his clarity of thoughts
6. R. Balakrishnan—had a criticial eye for detail
7. J. C. Bhattacharya and
8. Lt. Col. R. Swaminathan —their calm in the face of immense complexities was remarkable
9. Lt. Col. V.J. Sundaram—his zeal and application was conspicuous.
All the above had one point target; and that was to fly successfully an Indian missile.
Historian Edith Hamilton : He had written—“When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.” Dr. Kalam, offering his comments on personal responsibility, says—“The truth is that there is a great deal that most of us can individually do to increase our freedom. We can combat the forces that threaten to opress us. We can fortify ourselves with the qualities and conditions that promote individual freedom. In doing so, we help to create a stronger organization, capable of achieving unprecedented goals.”
T. N. Seshan : Dr. Kalam had met him when he was Joint Secretary in the Department of Space. He had great admiration for T.N. Seshan for the reason that he used to go meticulously through the agenda and come always fully prepared for the meetings. T. N. Seshan had great capability of analysing things and kindling the minds of scientists with his analysis. Dr. Abdul Kalam was very much impressed by him.
Dr. Kalam’s niece Mehboob : Bad time hits without warning. One day, while Dr. Abdul Kalam was busy with his team in the preparation of the static test of the first stage motor, he received the heartrending news of the sad demise of his brother-in-law and mentor, Jenab Ahmed Jallaluddin.
Leaving all the important engagements aside, he, travelling overnight in a combination of district buses, reached Rameswaram the next day and was greatly shocked to see his sister, Zohara, and niece, Mehboob, crying uncontrollably. Dr. Abdul Kalam was hit with such profound shock that he almost had no words to console them. If brother-in-law, Jenab Ahmed Jallaldddin was an ideal for Dr. Kalam, he was everything for Zohara and Mehboob. Dr. Kalam is full of gratitudes towards his sister, Zohara, for the favour extended by her at the time of his admission, and has great affections for niece, Mehboob.
Sasi Kumar : With the emergence of hardware from the drawing boards, Sasi Kumar had built a very effective network of fabrication work centres.
Dr. Sundararajan : He kept a close watch on the mission objective and concurrently updated the systems developed by the VSSC electronics laboratories and examined by Madhavan Nair and Murthy, who engineered them into flight sub-systems wherever it was possible.
U. S. Singh : He had developed the first launch ground system, comprising of telemetry, tele-command, and radar.
SLV Dy. Project Director, Dr. Srinivasan : He was a competent launch vehicle designer, who discharged all the complementary and supplementary functions of Dr. Abdul Kalam.
Y. S. Rajan : Dr. Abdul Kalam considers himself fortunate to have had a friend like Y. S. Rajan, who was from the ISRO headquarters. Dr. Kalam says—“Rajan was (and is) a universal friend.” He says that Y. S. Rajan was friendly, without any discrimination, with turners, fitters, electricians and drivers as well as scientists, engineers, contractors and bureaucrats. He was of great help to the SLV project.
Auden, friend of Yeats—The English poet : Dr. Abdul Kalam, on the sad demise of his father Janab Jainulabdeen, stricken by grief and sunk into melancholy, remembered the poem composed by Auden on the death of his friend, Yeats, and felt as if the poem was composed in the memory of his father :
Earth, receive an honoured guest;
William Yeats is laid to rest :
…………………………………………
In the prison of his days
Teach the free man how to praise.
Abou Ben Adhem : In the context of the memory of his father, Dr. Abdul Kalam says that his father had always reminded him of the legendary Abou Ben Adhem. The short story goes thus—
One night Abou Ben Adhem woke up from a deep sleep and what he saw before him was an angel who was writing in a book of gold the names of those who love the Lord. Abou became curious and enquired from the angel if his own name existed on the list. The angel disappointed him by saying that his name did not exist on the list. Abou said—“Write my name down as one that loves his fellowmen.” The angel appeared again to Abou Ben Adhem on the next night and showed the names of those whom the love of God had blessed. And this time Abou’s name was on the top on the list.
Wernher von Braun : He had come to Thumba in connection with missile programme going on in India. It was von Braun who had made the lethal V-2 missiles and, while working for the US Army, had produced the landmark Jupiter missile, and this was supposed to be the first IRBM with a 3,000 km. range. Later von Braun became the technical Director of the German Missile Laboratory at Kummersdorf.
Dr. Abdul Kalam was indeed very much impressed by him while flying from Madras to Trivandrum. Wernher von Braun, father of modern rocketry, advised Dr. Kalam and said—“…If you want to do anything in rocketry, do it yourself. SLV-3 is a genunine Indian design and you may be having your own troubles. But you should always remember that we don’t just build on successes, we also build on failures…Do not make rocketry your profession, your livelihood—make it your religion, your mission.”
Sivaramakrishnan Nair : The flight version of a complex second stage control system for static test and evaluation was being prepared by a six-member team. Sivaramakrishnan Nair was one of the members of the six-member team. During the countdown mode, which was scheduled T-15 minutes (15 minutes before the test), it was noticed that one of the twelve valves was not responding during checkout. The members of the team became anxious to know the problem and they went near the test site to take stock of the situation. All of a a sudden, without any forewarning, the oxidizer tank, which was filled with Red Fuming Nitric Acid ( RFNA), burst, burning severely the team members. Dr. Abdul Kalam, along with his colleague—Kurup—rushed to Trivandrum Medical College Hospital in order to have his colleagues admitted. Sivaramakrishnan Nair was one among those who had sustained injuries.
Johannes Kepler : The failure of SLV-3 flight, which caused the payload to splash into the sea, 560 km. off Sriharikota, had caused great disappointment to Dr. Abdul Kalam, and he had held himself completely responsible for the mishap during a meeting of top scientists. He was heartbroken. He writes—“The pursuit of science is a combination of great elation and great despair.” He was reminded of so many episodes of great scientitsts who, at one point of time, had faced great failures and had finally succeeded. Johannes Kepler was one such scientist who had taken nearly 17 years after formulating the two laws about planetary motion around the sun to put in clear and precise words the third law, from which one may understand the relation between the size of the elliptical orbit and the time taken by the planet to go around the sun. Dr. Abdul Kalam concluded to himself that Johannes Kepler, too, must have faced failures a number of times; he, too, must have undergone deep frustrations during his experiments and calculations.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian mathematician : Dr. Abdul Kalam says that the idea that man could land on the moon was developed by the Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky; and it took nearly forty years to materialise the brilliant feat—and that, too, by the United States.
Prof. Chandrasekhar : In a chain of thoughts Dr. Abdul Kalam was reminded of Prof. Chandrasekhar also who had discovered the‘Chandrasekhar Limit’ as a graduate student at Cambridge in the 1930s, and it had taken him nearly 50 years to get Nobel Prize for his great discovery.
Such sources of inspiration continued to render mental solace to Dr. Abdul Kalam during his unusual stress caused by the failure. He also remembered Emerson’s poem on Lord Brahma :
If the red slayer think he slays,
Or, if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well, the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.
The above poem seemed to echo the advices given by Dr. Brahm Prakash to Dr. Abdul Kalam, and he felt that this poem had the power of providing mental relaxation to him.
Sivakaminathan : Dr. Abdul Kalam writes in his autobiography that there were some extraordinarily courageous people in the team of SLV-3; and one, along with Sudhakar and Sivaramakrishnan in the team, was Sivakaminathan. The responsibility on his part was to bring C-Band transponder from Trivandrum to SHAR for integration with the SLV-3. The transponder is a device which is fitted with rocket system in order to give the radar signals. The arrival and integration of this equipment was of vital importance to the launching schedule of the SLV-3. Accidentally, the aircraft, in which Sivakaminathan was travelling along with the equipment, skidded and overshot the runway at the time of landing. There was smoke in great quantity all around the aircraft. In a desperate attempt to save their lives almost all the passengers jumped out of the aircraft through emergency exits. But Sivakaminathan, a dutiful colleague of Dr. Abdul Kalam, did not come out of the aircraft until he had removed the transponder from his baggage safely. He emerged from the smoke hugging the equipment to his chest.
Dr. Abdul Kalam has expressed great admiration for Sivakaminathan for his dutifulness, sincerity and industriousness.
Ved Prakash Sandlas : Consequent upon Dr. Abdul Kalam being relieved of the activities of the SLV-3 project, Ved Prakash Sandlas, who belonged to Dr. Kalam’s team, was made the Project Director for the SLV-3 Continuation Project.
M. S. R. Dev : He, too, was one of the members of Dr. Abdul Kalam’s team, and was appointed Project Director ASLV.
Dr. Bhagiratha Rao : He had invited Dr. Abdul Kalam to give a lecture on SLV-3 in Janurary, 1981.
Prof. Raja Ramanna : Dr. Abdul Kalam had enormous admiration for Prof. Raja Ramanna. He was then the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and had presided over the gathering which had collected to listen to the speech delivered by Dr. Kalam, on invitation from Dr. Bhagiratha Rao. Prof. Raja Ramanna had advised Dr. Kalam to talk to Prof. Dhawan so that he could work out the modalities of his transfer from ISRO to DRDL.
Mahadevan, Secretary to Prof. U. R. Rao : It was Mahadevan who, on the evening of 25 January, 1981, informed Dr. Abdul Kalam on telephone from Delhi that the Home Ministry had announced the conferment of the Padma Bhushan award on him.
English poet, Lewis Carroll : It has been characteristic of Dr. Abdul Kalam that whenever he has sunk into melancholy or has enjoyed the depths of the ocean of joy, he has either composed a poem himself or has brought down the compositions of renowned poets in his book. This has been the greatest achievement of his poetic temperament.
Some experienced real happiness and congratulated Dr. Kalam with sincere hearts and some envied him when the conferment of Padma Bhushan award on him was announced. Dr. Kalam, at that time, found the following lines by Lewis Carroll very appropriate—
You may charge me with murder—
Or want of sense
(We are all of us weak at times) :
But the slightest approach to a false pretence
Was never among my crimes!
Dr. V.S. Arunachalam, Director of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad : After retirement of Prof. Ramanna from the office of the Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, Dr. V.S. Arunachalam succeeded him. Dr. Abdul Kalam writes in his autobiography that he was a person who was known for his confidence.
The following lines from ‘Wings of Fire’ show the kind of admiration Dr. Abdul Kalam had for Dr. V.S. Arunachalam—
“I had met Dr. V.S. Arunachalam in 1976, when I visited DMRL in connection with the aluminium alloy investment casting for the SLV inertial guidance platform. Taking it as a personal challenge, Dr. Arunachalam had the investment casting, the first of its kind in the country, made in the incredibly short time of two months. His youthful energy and enthusiasm never failed to amaze me…Dr. Arunachalam was like an electrically charged dynamo himself. I found him an unusually friendly person with a forceful manner, as well as an excellent working partner.”
Honourable Defence Minister, R. Venkataraman : He was greatly impressed by the outstanding performance of Dr. Abdul Kalam, and it was he who held the credit of deciding to appoint Dr. Kalam, Director, DRDL, in February, 1982. He provided adequate facilities and an unprecedented amont of Rs. 388 crore for the India’s prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).
S. L. Bansal, Director of DRDL : He was Director DRDL and Dr. Abdul Kalam had taken over charge from him.
Admiral O. S. Dawson, Chief of Naval Staff : About one month after Dr. Abdul Kalam’s taking over charge of DRDL, Admiral O.S. Dawson had visited the place. Dr. Kalam had discussed with him about the battlefield capabilities of the Sruface-to-Air Missile, an anti-radiation Air-to-Surface Missile, which could be launched from helicopters or fixed wing aircraft.
Ronald Fischer : Dr. Abdul Kalam had quoted the following lines of Ronald Fischer at one of the meetings—
“The sweetness we taste in a piece of sugar is neither a property of the sugar nor a property of ourselves. We are producing the experience of sweetness in the process of interacting with the sugar.”
Z. P. Marshall, Chief of Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad, N.R. Iyer, A. K. Kapoor and K. S. Venkataraman : They were all members of a committee constituted under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdul Kalam for missile development programme for the production of indigenous missiles.
Three Service Chiefs : General Krishna Rao, Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh and Admiral Dawson : Dr. Abdul Kalam made a presentation in the South Block in connection with the missile programme. This presentation was presided over by R. Venkataraman, Defence Minister and attended by the above three Service Chiefs.
Cabinet Secretary, Krishna Rao Sahib, Defence Secretary, S. M. Ghosh and Secretary, Expenditure, R. Ganapathy : They were also present in the above meeting.
Dr. Kalam’s niece—Zameela : After the above meeting was over, Dr. Abdul Kalam, along with Dr. Arunachalam, remained busy throughout the night working out their plans. Suddenly Dr. Kalam remembered that he had to attend his niece, Zameela’s marriage at Rameswaram the same evening. This matter was brought to the notice of the Defence Minister by Dr. Arunachalam and the Defence Minister was kind enough to arrange an Air Force helicopter for Dr. Kalam to take him to Rameswaram. He reached Rameswaram well in time and attended Zameela’s wedding. He writes—
“I blessed my brother’s daughter with a father’s love.”
A. V. Ranga Rao : Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that he met a very interesting person—A. V. Ranga Rao—in DRDL. He was greatly impressed by A. V. Ranga Rao’s articulateness and striking personality. He would almost always be seen wearing a red neck-tie with a checked coat and loose trousers; and that, too, in the hot climate of Hyderabad. His thick white beard and a pipe in his mouth would add to his already impressive personality, but Dr. Kalam feels that he was rather an egocentric person.
Col. V. J. Sundaram : He belonged to the EME Corps of the Indian Army and had a post-graduate degree in Aeronautical Engineering and expertise in mechanical vibrations. Col. V. J. Sundaram was head of the Structures Group at DRDL. Dr. Abdul Kalam considers being able to locate him for Prithvi project a great achievement.
Comde. S. R. Mohan : Dr. Abdul Kalam was in search of a person for Trishul project who, along with sound knowledge of electronics and missile power, also had the abilities to communicate the complexities to his team in order to promote understanding and earn the support of his team members. Comde. S.R. Mohan was the most suitable person for this purpose. He had come from the Indian Navy to the Defence R & D. A. K. apoor was made his deputy.
R. N. Agarwal : Since Agni was the dream project of Abdul Kalam, he was looking for someone who could tolerate his occasional meddling in the running of the project. R. N. Agarwal was one such person who bore the required qualities. Dr. Kalam says that he was an alumnus of MIT and had a brilliant academic record. He was managing the Aeronautical Test Facilities at DRDL with great success employing all his professional acumen.
Prahlad and N. R. Iyer : They were selected for the Akash and Nag missile projects.
M. N. Rao, a senior scientist : In the very first meeting of the Council, M. N. Rao asked a straight question to Dr. Abdul Kalam—“On what basis did you select these five Pandavas (the Project Directors)?” Dr. Kalam said to him in reply—“Wait and see”. He says that he had chosen them to take charge of a long-term programme where new storms would arise everyday.
Dr. Abdul Kalam spoke further—“Every tomorrow will give opportunities to these enthusiastic people—the Agarwals, Prahladas, Iyers and Saraswats—to gain a fresh perspective on their goals and a strong hold on their commitments.”
For a model high technology research centre : Dr. Abdul Kalam located almost all the required leadership qualities in M. V. Suryakanta Rao and selected him for the purpose, and also selected Krishna Mohan to complement him as he was in his mid-thirties and Suryakanta Rao in his late fifties.
Col. S. K. Salwan : He, too, had joined the team of Dr. Abdul Kalam for searching a suitable place for the Central Ground Water Board. Dr. Kalam writes that he was a mechanical engineer who was filled with enormous enthusiasm and had boundless energy. Salwan had discovered, during the final phase of construction, an ancient place of worship among the boulders. This place was near Balasore in Orissa.
Dr. H. S. Rama Rao : Dr. Kalam has mentioned in his book that Dr. H. S. Rama Rao and the members of his team did an excellent job of working out innovative and cost-effective specifications for electro-optical tracking instruments, a tracking telescope system and an instrumentation tracking radar.
Lt. Gen. R.S. Deswal and Maj. Gen. K. N. Singh : They took charge of creating the launch pad and range infrastructure.
P. Banerjee and K. V. Ramana Sai : They had developed an altitude control system and an on-board computer during the period of renaissance at DRDL.
Defence Minister, S. B. Chavan : Prime Minister, Shrimati Indira Gandhi was so enthusiastic about the flight test of Prithvi missile that she sent the newly appointed Defence Minister, S. B. Chavan to review the projects.
Roddam Narasimha, Director of the National Aeronautical Laboratory : “…if the goals were clear, there was enough talent available in the country to tackle major technological challenges,” would say Roddam Narasimha who put up a strong case for technology initiative and acquainted everyone in the team with the experiences of the green revolution.
K. K. Ganapathy, HAL : On an invitation from the United States Air Force, Dr. Abdul Kalam went to USA and was accompanied by K. K. Ganapathy along with Dr. Arunachalam and Roddam Narasimha.
Renowned Author, Robert Schuller : Dr. Abdul Kalam visited the Crystal Cathedral in San Francisco. This Cathedral was built by his favourite author, Robert Schuller. This star-shaped structure is made of glass and it cost several million dollars which was organized by Schuller through donations. This structure is known for its beauty and uniqueness. Dr. Abdul Kalam quotes Schuller in his book—
“God can do tremendous things through the person who doesn’t care about who gets the credit. The ego involvement must go.” Robert Schuller adds further—“Before God trusts you with success, you have to prove yourself humble enough to handle the big prize.”
Dr. Abdul Kalam was so moved to see the grand and unique structure that he prayed to God—“…help me build a Research Centre at the Imarat Kancha—that would be my Crystal Cathedral.”
Prof. S. M. Deshpande : Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that his team had no experience to tackle the challenge posed by the enormous speed of Agni missile at the time of its re-entering the atmosphere at twelve times the speed of sound (12 Mach). They did not know as to how to keep the vehicle under control at such a tremendous speed. Prof. S. M. Deshpande of IISc. took up the challenge and, taking four young, bright scientists who were working in the field of fluid dynamics, developed the software for Computational Fluid Dynamics for Hypersonic Regimes within a short period of six months.This software is one of its own kind in the world.
Prof. I. G. Sharma : There was yet another achievement for which the credit goes to Prof. I. G. Sharma of IISc. who developed a missile trajectory simulation software, ANUKALPANA, which was meant to evaluate the multi-target acquisition capabilities of an Akash-type weapon system. This was developed indigenously.
Prof. Bharati Bhatt—IIT, Delhi : He set up an example of team spirit of scientific talent and of working together, working with the Solid Physics Laboratory (SPL) and Central Electronics Limited (CEL). He developed ferrite phase shifters for use in the multi-function, multi-tasking 3-D Phased Army Radar for surveillence, tracking and guidance of Akash. This was one of the great milestones of scientific development which broke the monopoly of the western countries.
Prof. Saraf, IIT, Kharagpur, B. K. Mukhopadhyay : Prof. Saraf of IIT, Kharagpur together with B. K. Mukhopadhyay (Dr. Abdul Kalam’s colleague at RCI) made a millimetric wave (MMW) antenna for the Nag Seeker Head in a record period of two years (this was a record even by international standards).
A.V. Ranga Rao and Col. R. Swaminathan : A re-organization, in the year 1983, was done for proper building and launching of missiles; and this was done with an objective of renewal. This was, of course, a very tough job, but A.V. Ranga Rao and Col. R. Swaminathan handled it very deftly.
P. K. Biswas : Dr. Abdul Kalam formed an external fabrication wing headed by P. K. Biswas, who was an experienced developmental technologist, and was supposed to deal with the public sector undertakings (PSUs) and private sector firms associated with the development of the missile hardware. His successful performance resulted into reduction of pressure on the in-house fabrication facilities.
Saraswat, Y. Gyaneshwar and P. Venugopalan : In order to attain flexibility in payload range combination, it was for the first time in India that clustered Liquid Propellant (LP) rocket engines with programmable total impulse were going to be used in a missile system, as the work on Prithvi was nearing completion. Dr. Abdul Kalam and Sundaram were providing to the Prithvi team the scope and quality of the policy decisions, but for the success of the project it was necessary to convert the creative ideas into workable products. Dr. Kalam writes that Saraswat with Y. Gyaneshwar and P. Venugopalan did a commendable job in regard to the requirements of the team.
M. R. Kurup, Director, SHAR Centre : He was an old friend of Dr. Kalam. M. R. Kurup, while working for Pirthvi as a team member, never kept in mind the boundary lines that divide DRDO and ISRO, DRDL and SHAR. His performance on the Pritihvi launch campaign was of great satisfaction to Dr. Kalam. He worked with great enthusiasm in propellant filling and made the maiden Prithvi launch campaign a memorable one.
V. R. Nagaraj : Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that V. R. Nagaraj was, for the launch of Agni missile, working as the leader of the electrical integration team. He used to get so engrossed in his work that he would even forget his basic requirements like food and sleep. The greatest example of his dedication to his work is of the time when his brother-in-law passed away. He was busy working for the launch of Agni missile. And an information of such great magnitude was kept from him by his family members only for the purpose that there should be no hindrance or interruption in his work towards the launching of Agni. Such is the dedication of the great technologist.
K. C. Pant, Defence Minister : He had come to ITR to witness the launch of Agni missile. One day before the launch of the missile, he asked Dr. Abdul Kalam—‘‘Kalam! what would you like me to do to celebrate the Agni success tomorrow?’’ Dr. Kalam said—“We need 100,000 saplings to plant at RCI.” Defence Minister K. C. Pant quipped—“You are buying the blessings of Mother Earth for Agni.” “We will succeed tomorrow,” was his prediction.
Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India : He became Prime Minister of India after the gruesome assassination of Shrimati Indira Gandhi. Dr. Kalam says that he, as a prime minister, was very alert and zealous. He called the successful launch of Agni “a major achievement in our continuing efforts to safeguard our independence and security by self-reliant means…” He further added—“The country is proud of your efforts.”
R. Venkataraman, President of India : On receving the auspicious news of successful launch of Agni missile he cabled Dr. Kalam from Simla—“It is a tribute to your dedication, hard work and talent.”
Jeff Bingaman, American Senator : There were worldwide speculations after the successful launch of Agni missile by the great scientists of India. Apart from the comments of others, Jeff Bingaman, an American Senator, went to the extent of saying that Dr. Abdul Kalam picked up everything needed for Agni during his four month stay at Wallop’s Island in 1962. Dr. Abdul Kalam comments on his adverse remark in his own modest way—
“The fact that I was in Wallop’s Island more than 25 years ago and at that time the technology used in Agni did not exist even in the United States was not mentioned.”
Dr. P. C. Alexander, Governor of Tamil Nadu : Dr. Abdul Kalam had gone to Madurai Kamaraj University to deliver convocation address. He went and met his high school teacher Iyadurai Solomon. Seeing the touching reunion between teacher and pupil, Dr. P.C. Alexander, who was presiding over the function, was greatly moved. He, seeing that the elderly teacher had not forgotten his pupil whom he had taught long ago, requested him to share the dais.
Rev. Father Sequeira, Rev. Father Erhart, Prof. Subramanyam, Prof. Iyyamperumal Konar, Prof. Thothathri Iyenger : Dr. Abdul Kalam went to Trichi after some time. There he visited St. Joseph’s College so that he could meet the above teachers and pay respects to them. He was disappointed as he could not find any of the above teachers. He shared his memories of St. Joseph’s with the young students of the college and paid tributes to the teachers who had moulded him.
Nelson Mandela : Jadavpur University conferred the honour of Doctor of Science on Dr. Abdul Kalam towards the end of the year 1990. It was mentioned there that Nelson Mandela was also honoured at the same convocation. He writes—“What could I possible (sic) have in common with a legend like Mandela?” Then he feels that perhaps it was their (Dr. Kalam’s and Nelson Mandela’s) persistence in their missions.
Kapoor : After the retirement of Rear Admiral Mohan, it was Kapoor, his deputy, who took over charge of the Trishul project.
Prof. B. Nag : On the occasion when Dr. Abdul Kalam received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the IIT, Bombay, Prof. B. Nag described him as “an inspiration behind the creation of a solid technological base from which India’s future aerospace programmes can be launched to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.”
Sun Tzu, Chinese war philosopher : He said over two thousand years ago—“What matters in war is not decimating the enemy army physically but breaking his will so as to make him concede defeat in the mind.”
Prof. P. Rama Rao, Head of the Department of Science and Technology : He was a very good friend of Dr. Abdul Kalam. At the age of sixty Dr. Abdul Kalam was looking forward to taking retirement and contemplating opening a school for the less privileged children. Prof. P. Rama Rao, being a very good friend of Dr. Kalam, had even decided to become his partner. He also had the name of the school in his mind as Rao-Kalam school. But their plan did not materialize as neither of them was relieved from his post by the Government of India.
Sivathanu Pillai : The SLV-3 team had developed their own internal success criteria, which entailed knowing how to accomplish tasks, apportioning jobs and fixing parameters for standards of performance and time limits, and also knowing how the team would conduct itself with reference to others in the organisation. Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that Sivathanu Pillai and his team in IGMDP did some remarkable work in this area through their home-grown technique—Programme Analysis, Control and Evaluation (PACE).
Abraham Maslow : Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that Abraham Maslow was the first person to moot the new psycholgoy of self-actualisation at a conceptual level.
Rudolf Steiner and Reg Revans of Europe : They developed the concept of Abraham Maslow into the system of individual learning and organisational renewal.
Fritz Schumacher, Anglo-German management philosopher : He introduced Buddhist economics and authored the concept of “Small is Beautiful”.
Mahatma Gandhi : After studying the philosophy and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Abdul Kalam writes that Mahatma Gandhi, in the Indian subcontinent, emphasised grass-root level technology and put the customer at the centre of the entire business activity.
J. R. D. Tata—a great industrialist : He was the one who brought the progress-driven infrastructure.
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha : He together with Vikram Sarabhai launched the high, technology-based atomic energy and space programmes stressing upon the natural laws of totality and flow.
Precious words
Your fate is formed by your thoughts and deeds. Your thoughts become the basis of your personality. This is the eternal law of Nature. Change your thoughts and views from right now. Do good deeds. Develop right thinking. Let your wishes be pure and sacred. Get rid of the feelings of hatred, perversions, and carnal appetite. Lead a life of truthfulness, a divine life, and be happy.
—Swami Sivananda Saraswati
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