Adieu to a non political President

Thoudam Imomacha Singh *

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam :: Pix - TSE

Dr Abdul Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Kalam was the only non political President of Indian since Dr Rajendra Prasad, who held the country`s first post of the president. From a humble home in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu he lauded up in the Historic Rashtrapati Bhavan.

It may be interesting to know a brief history of how Dr Kalam became the 11th President of india. President KR Narayan`s term of office ended in 2002. A political preparedness for the presidential election was in the offing.

A former bureaucrat and one time crony of the late Indira Gandhi, namely PC Alexander was at first the frontrunner for the Presidentship. President KR Narayanan also expressed his desire to seek as second term. But the NDA`s denial of support to him stopped Narayanan. Vice President Krishan Kant was also projected as a candidate.

In the meanwhile, the Congress also signaled their support for the Vice President. At the critical juncture, the name of PC Alexander re-surfaced. The news of abandoning him by the NDA had devastated Krishan Kant. He letter on, died of a heart attract. But, Sonia Gandhi did not change her mind not to support Alexander.

Then, under a mysterious circumstance, the name of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam began doing the rounds. Ultimately, Kalam reached the Rashtrapati Bhavan. It was not Dr Kalam who sought the office but the office sought him.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was a patriot first, then a thinker and finally an aerospace engineer. We are aware that after becoming the President, he opened the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the common man, especially the children of the country. He cherished the profession of teaching most, even particularly teaching the young children.

It is all the more enigmatic that he collapsed while delivering a lecture at an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong, Maghalaya on Monday evening and the breathed his last. It would be unique to remember that Dr Kalam did not fail to inspire his favorite young minds till his last breath.

With the passing away of Dr Kalam the entire nation is bereaved. Dr Kalam had a fascination to become a pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF). In that attempt he was not selected.

He was disappointed and made up his mind to be a recluse. As such, he went into the forest to do penance. Those spiritual souls who saw the young Dr Kalam in the forest felt otherwise. They relentlessly advised him to go back and serve the society with his own share of valuable contribution, thus, he came back to the mainstream human society. In his book,

"The Wings of Fire" Dr Kalam mentioned a nostalgic episode of his life at a young age. He was attending a lower primary school at Rameswaram. He was sitting on the front bench with a son of an erudite Brahmin. When a young teacher came there he asked young Kalam to sit at the back of the class. His friend told his father about the sad incident.

The Brahmin came to the school and told the young teacher "You have come here to teach the children and not to divide the community. Apart from teaching, if you are interested to play the communal card, you may go away from today itself". The young teacher was good enough to mend his ways accordingly. While going through this story, the writer had a lump in his throat

Dr Kalam was a polymath with a high sense of optimism and secularism. His head was always ego- free. This may be why he earned the epithet "People`s President". He had worked with the Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO and also he headed the Defance Research and Development Organization,(DRDO).

He was deeply involved in both civilian space programme and also military missile development exercise. After demitting office as President of India he joined the Annamalai University in Madhraj as a faculty member. He was also teaching at the Delhi University. He had profound interest in nation building.

He always expressed his desire that our young minds should explore new vistas of knowledge. Let the memory of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam continue to inspire all the young minds of the country.