lnLroducLlon

W 8orn on CcLober 13
1931
W 1he youngesL chlld ln
Lhe famlly
W oor had even Lo sell
newspapers
W sLudled aL SchwarLz Plgh
School ln
8amanaLhapuram
W Speclallzed ln
AeronauLlcal Lnglneerlng
W u1u (Alr) as a Senlor
SclenLlflc AsslsLanL
W 14 years workspan as
Lhe ulrecLor of u8uL
W Works 18 hours a day
W LlecLed as Lhe resldenL
of lndla on Lhe 26Lh !uly
2002
W Man of vlslon
areer
W 1he rank of ablneL MlnlsLer on 23Lh november 1999
W !olned u8uC ln 1938
W LefL Lhe u8uC ln 1962 and [olned Lhe lndlan space
programme
W became ro[ecL ulrecLor for
SaLelllLe Launch vehlcle (SLv lll)
W moved back lnLo Lhe
uefence 8esearch omplex
aL kanchanbagh as
ulrecLor of u8uL
W provlded a 3 mlsslle
developmenL plan LhaL was
Lo be Laken up one afLer Lhe
oLher
W 3 componenLs of lCMu
18lSPuL
8l1Pvl
AkASP
nAC
ACnl
W as head of Lhe u8uC had Lo
oversee oLher presLlglous
pro[ecLs such as Lhe M81
Ar[un and Lhe LA pro[ecLs
1he Leader
lor a reaLlve Leader
1 vlslon
2 1ravel lnLo unexplored paLh
3 know how Lo manage Success
lallure
4 ourage Lo make declslons
3 noblllLy ln managemenL
LransparenL acLlons
6 Work Success wlLh lnLegrlLy
W vlkram Sarabhal
8ole Model lnvlslble Leader
W rlmarlly a vlslonary and a dreamer
W Leader ls llke a coach
W Moved Lo u8uL ln Pyderabad
W keeps Lhe hope of hls Leam allve
W Score ouL all negaLlve senLlmenLs
couches ln poslLlve language
W Makes Lhe sysLems Lo work for hlm
lnLervlew
C Who named you as A! Abdul kalam? WhaL ls Lhe
expanslon?
A lunny quesLlon names are glven only by parenLs
My full name ls Avul aklr !alnulabdeen Abdul kalam
1he flrsL name Avul was my greaL grandfaLher's
name aklr was my grandfaLher's name
!alnulabdeen was my faLher's name
As l have all Lhe names of Lhree
generaLlons l geL Lhe
blesslngs of Lhem all
C uld you lndulge mlschlef when you were young?
A When l was ln class seven l was made monlLor ln Lhe
class as l was good ln MaLhs 1he very nexL day ln
Lhe geography class l was caughL gosslplng wlLh a
frlend wlLhouL aLLendlng Lo Lhe lesson 1he Leacher
Lold us ?ou should follow Lhe lessons ln Lhe class
wlLh as much aLLenLlon as you would whlle geLLlng
onLo a runnlng Lraln" l answered raLher
lmperLlnenLly lL ls dangerous Lo board a runnlng
Lraln slr" 1he enLlre class bursL ouL ln laughLer
needless Lo say LhaL l was admlnlsLered
canlng for Lhe mlschlef!
C Who ls Lhe flrsL SclenLlsL ln Lhe world?
A 1he chlld ls Lhe flrsL sclenLlsL A sclenLlsL asks
quesLlons Lo know Lhe 'why' of Lhe Lhlngs you
chlldren keep asklng quesLlons all Lhe Llme 1haL ls
whaL a sclenLlsL does
C uo you carry any unhealed wound ln your hearL?
A no nobody should carry such wounds ln Lhem Cnly
forglveness wlll lead Lo growLh l have deep sadness
LhaL my parenLs and my menLor ur vlkram Sarabhal
were noL Lhere when l goL 8haraL 8aLna
C lf a person belleves ln hls luck does lL mean he ls
lazy?
A A few monLhs ago l wenL Lo meeL Mr Azlm rem[l
Lhe chlef of Wlpro l asked hlm ?our organlsaLlon ls
ln Lhe forefronL ln your lndusLry WhaL ls Lhe secreL
behlnd lL?" Pe answered llrsL hard work Second
cusLomer saLlsfacLlon 1hlrd a llLLle luck
C WhaL wlll you ask lf Cod glves a boon?
A Make my counLry a ueveloped naLlon"
C ?ou had dlfflculLy ln pursulng your educaLlon Pow
dld you become one of Lhe achlevers of Lhe counLry?
A l was forLunaLe Lo have had good Leachers and
vlslonary sclenLlsLs Lo gulde me l wanL Lo glve you
Lhls message uream LhoughLs wlll be generaLed
resulLlng ln acLlon
C WhaL ls your favourlLe 1hlrukkural?
A 1lme ls a preclous commodlLy Cne should noL wasLe
Llme ln useless gosslp 1lme should be used for
sLudylng well 1here ls a coupleL whlch says LhaL say
only Lhose Lhlngs whlch are useful and necessary and
avold useless words l llke Lhls coupleL Lhe mosL
keep Lhls ln mlnd 1hen your words LhoughL and
acLlon wlll ensure your advancemenL
C WhaL ls Lhe Lhlng LhaL should be ellmlnaLed from Lhe
counLry? WhaL should be encouraged Lo grow?
A 1he defeaLlsL aLLlLude LhaL we cannoL achleve should
be ellmlnaLed 1hls can be done wlLh parenLal
affecLlon good educaLlon and blesslngs of good
persons
1he feellng LhaL we wlll succeed ln our endeavours
and efforLs Lowards Lhem should be encouraged
AchlevemenLs
W PCvL88Al1 1
sL
pro[ecL
(nandl) of ur kalam ln
aeronauLlcs developmenL
esLabllshmenL
W SaLelllLe Launch vehlcle (SLv
3)
Laken up ln lS8C as Lhe flrsL
sLep Lowards creaLlng
lndlgenous capablllLy Lo
launch saLelllLes
W 88APMCS
W lnLegraLed Culded Mlsslle
uevelopmenL rogramme
18lSPuL
8l1Pvl
AkASP
nAC
ACnl
W adma 8hushan ln 1981 by CovernmenL of
lndla
W adma vlbhushan ln 1990 by CovernmenL of
lndla
W 8haraL raLna ln 1997 by CovernmenL of lndla
W uocLor of Lnglneerlng (Ponorls ausa) ln
2008 by nanyang 1echnologlcal unlverslLy
Slngapore
W lnLernaLlonal von krmn Wlngs
Award ln 2009 by allfornla
lnsLlLuLe of 1echnology uSA
W Poover Medal ln 2009 by ASML
loundaLlon uSA
W uocLor of Sclence (Ponorls ausa) ln
2009 by Anna unlverslLy of
1echnology
W lLLL Ponorary Membershlp ln 2011
by lLLL
W uocLor of Sclence
(mlcroblology) ln 2011
by SCu[araLl unlverslLy
oncluslon