Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam’s Autobiography




Born - 15 October 1931


Achievements - This eminent scientist and engineer has also served as the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. APJ Abdul Kalam is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country. He firmly believes that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations.

Apart from being a notable scientist and engineer, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam served as the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. He is a man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country and is also often also referred to as the Missile Man of India. People loved and respected Dr APJ Abdul Kalam so much during his tenure as President that was popularly called the People's President. Read more about the biography of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam here.

APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 at the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and received honorary doctorates from about 30 universities globally. In the year 1981, the Government of India presented him the nation's highest civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan and then again, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Before Kalam, there have been only two presidents - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain - to have received the Bharat Ratna before bring appointed to the highest office in India.

Read on about the life history of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who's also the first scientist and bachelor to occupy the seat of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. His perspectives on important topics have been enunciated by him in the book 'India 2020'. It highlights the action plans that will help develop the country into a knowledge superpower by the time 2020. One thing for which he received ample kudos is his unambiguous statement that India needs to play a more assertive role in international relations.

And Dr APJ Abdul Kalam regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower. Even during his tenure as President, APJ Kalam took avid interest in the spheres of India's science and technology. He has even put forward a project plan for establishing bio-implants. He is also an ardent advocate of open source software over proprietary solutions to churn out more profits in the field of information technology in India.




Abdul Kalam’s Quotes


29 Quotes:

1) As a child of God, I am greater than anything that can happen to me.
Abdul Kalam

2) Be more dedicated to making solid achievements than in running after swift but synthetic happiness.
Abdul Kalam

3) Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.
Abdul Kalam

4) Do we not realize that self respect comes with self reliance?
Abdul Kalam

5) Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model.
Abdul Kalam

6) English is necessary as at present original works of science are in English. I believe that in two decades times original works of science will start coming out in our languages. Then we can move over like the Japanese.
Abdul Kalam

7) God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.
Abdul Kalam

8) Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.
Abdul Kalam

9) I was willing to accept what I couldn't change.
Abdul Kalam

10) If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.
Abdul Kalam

11) If we are not free, no one will respect us.
Abdul Kalam

12) In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.
Abdul Kalam

13) It means, people who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer.
Abdul Kalam

14) Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.
Abdul Kalam

15) Life is a difficult game. You can win it only by retaining your birthright to be a person.
Abdul Kalam

16) Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.
Abdul Kalam

17) Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.
Abdul Kalam

18) My view is that at a younger age your optimism is more and you have more imagination etc. You have less bias.
Abdul Kalam

19) No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion.
Abdul Kalam

20) Tell me, why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognise our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
Abdul Kalam

21) Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.
Abdul Kalam

22) To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
Abdul Kalam

23) Unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. In this world, fear has no place. Only strength respects strength.
Abdul Kalam

24) We have not invaded anyone. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.
Abdul Kalam

25) We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!
Abdul Kalam

26) We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.
Abdul Kalam

27) We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity coupled with civilizational heritage.
Abdul Kalam

28) Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? Is it a legacy of our colonial years? We want foreign television sets. We want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported?
Abdul Kalam

29) You have to dream before your dreams can come true.
Abdul Kalam