The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :With courage in my mind, indomitable spirit engulfed me,

Q :Are you honestly happy with the way parliamentary democracy in India is run or are you happy with the state of parliamentary democracy pr the politics in this country today?

Ans: Yes. India is maturing into a great democracy in the world. Whatever is happening is a process of evolution.

DR  A P J Abdul Kalam 

Indomitable Spirit

I was swimming in the sea, Waves came one after the other I was swimming and swimming to reach my destination. But one wave, a powerful wave, overpowered me; It took me along in its own direction, I was pulled long and along. When I was about to lose amidst the sea wave power, One thought flashed to me, yes, that is courage Courage to reach my goal, courage to defeat the powerful force and succeed; With courage in my mind, indomitable spirit engulfed me, With...

Awards  & Honours :

Year of award or honour	Name of award or honour	Awarding organisation
2009	Hoover Medal	ASME Foundation, USA
2009	International von Kármán Wings Award	California Institute of Technology, U.S.A
2008	Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Causa)	Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :The youth need to be enabled to become job generators from job seekers.

The youth need to be enabled to become job generators 

from job seekers.

    -  Dr  Abdul Kalam 

Frisking by American security authorities :

Kalam was frisked at the JFK Airport in New York, while boarding a plane on 29 September 2011. He was subjected to "private screening" as he does not come under the category of dignitaries exempt from security screening procedures under American guidelines. 

He was frisked again after boarding the Air India aircraft with the US security officials asking for his jacket and shoes, claiming that these items were not checked according to the prescribed procedures during the "private screening", despite protests from the airline crew confirming him as India's president. 

The incident was not reported until 13 November 2011.India threatened retaliatory action as there was a "general sense of outrage" around the country.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs protested over this incident and a statement by the ministry said that the US Government had written a letter to Kalam, expressing its deep regret for the inconvenience.

Kalam was previously frisked by the ground staff of the Continental Airlines at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi in July 2009 and was treated like an ordinary passenger, despite him being on the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security's list of people exempted from security screening in India.

Biographies:

A Little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli Media Works Private Limited, 2008

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam : I was willing to accept what I couldn't change.

I was willing to accept what I couldn't change.

    -   Dr Abdul Kalam 


Kalam was the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, before becoming the President.

 Dr. Sarvapali Radhakrishnan (1954) and Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) were the earlier recipients of Bharat Ratna who later became the President of India.

 He was also the first scientist and the first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Biographies:

• Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Kalam by S. Chandra; Pentagon Publishers, 2002.

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

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

'I am really overwhelmed. Everywhere both in Internet and in other media, I have been asked for a message. I was thinking what message I can give to the people of the country at this juncture.'

—Kalam responding to the announcement

                     Of his candidature by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

On 18 June, Kalam filed his nomination papers in the Parliament of India, 

accompanied by Vajpayee and his senior Cabinet colleagues.

Kalam's writings :

• Target 3 Billion" by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh; December, 2011 | Publisher Penguin Books.

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, but to help you realise your hidden potential and power, let difficulties know that you too are difficult.

Difficulties in your life do not come to destroy you, 
but to help you realise your hidden potential and power,
 let difficulties know that you too are difficult. 

              ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

ThePokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an intensive political and technological role. 

Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with R. Chidambaram during the testing phase.Photos and snapshots of him taken by the media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist.

Kalam's writings

• Envisioning an Empowered Nation by APJ Abdul Kalam with A. Sivathanu Pillai; Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :“Once your mind stretches to a new level it never goes back to its original dimension”

“Once your mind stretches to a new level 

  it never goes back to its original dimension” 
              ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Kalam played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and Prithvi, the tactical surface-to-surface missile, although the projects have been criticised for mismanagement and cost and time overruns.

He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. 

Kalam's writings

• Inspiring Thoughts by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; Rajpal & Sons, 2007

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :Problems are common, but attitude makes the difference!!!”

Problems are common, but attitude
makes the difference!!!” 

              ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

 His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship.Kalam and Dr. V. S. Arunachalam, metallurgist and scientific adviser to the Defense Minister, worked on the suggestion by the then Defense Minister, R. Venkataraman on a proposal for simultaneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned missiles one by one.

R Venkatraman was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for allocating 388 crore rupees for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P) and appointed Kalam as the Chief Executive.

Kalam's writings

• The Luminous Sparks by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; Punya Publishing Pvt Ltd, 2004.

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam :Failure will never overtake me if my definition to succeed is strong enough”

“Failure will never overtake me if my definition to succeed is strong enough” 

              ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam's directorship.

 Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.

Kalam's writings

• India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A. P. J Abdul Kalam, Y. S. Rajan; New York, 1998.

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam : “All Birds find shelter during a rain. But Eagle avoids rain by flying above the Clouds. Problems are common, but attitude makes the difference!!!”

“All Birds find shelter during a rain.
But Eagle avoids rain by flying above
the Clouds.

Problems are common, but attitude
makes the difference!!!” 

              ― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Kalam was invited by Raja Ramanna to witness the country's first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in the development, test site preparation and weapon designing. In the 1970s, a landmark was achieved by ISRO when the locally built Rohini-1 was launched into space, using the SLV rocket.

 In the 1970s, Kalam also directed two projects, namely, Project Devil and Project Valiant , which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV programme.

Kalam's writings

• Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Roddam Narasimha; Indian Academy of Sciences, 1988^[

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam : “Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution”

“Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution”
 
― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,



In 1963–64, he visited Nasa's Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and Wallops Flight Facility situated at Eastern Shore of Virginia.

 During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be success.