Why Kalam’s Dream
There are moments in one’s life that completely transform someone and inspire them to dream. A dream not only for themselves but for everyone around them. The name holds the story of one such moment!
There are moments in one’s life that completely transform someone and inspire them to dream. A dream not only for themselves but for everyone around them. The name holds the story of one such moment!
Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam or as he was more popularly known, the missile man of India, was our former President, a renowned scientist, a humanitarian but most importantly a teacher who was loved by all his pupils. He inspired millions of students and will continue to do so for generations to come.
One such student, whose life he completely transformed was our founder, Shitiz Singhal. Shitiz first met Kalam sir when he was a school student and was attending an event in Delhi like thousands of other students. The charisma of Kalam sir was such that when he heard him, he was completely spellbound and inspired beyond measure. From that day onwards Shitiz aspired to become a teacher and was in this noble profession for the past 10 years, working to provide education to the underprivileged kids.
As fate would have it, he took admission in IIM Shillong where Kalam sir used to visit as a teacher! This was the final push that he needed, he got so deeply motivated by Kalam sir’s vision that he took it on himself to make it a reality.
Now that our team has taken the first step towards that vision. We could not think of a better tribute to our teacher and his dream than dedicating everything to him. To KALAM’S DREAM!
We hope we can make his dream a reality and transform education to improve and touch as many lives as possible.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15th Oct’ 1931 in the holy city of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. His father was a boatman who used to ferry pilgrims to the island of Dhanshkodi.
Completed his graduation in Physics from Saint Joseph’s College in Tiruchirappalli.
He moved to Madras Institute of Technology to pursue his dream of becoming an Aerospace Engineer and at the same time he wanted to become a fighter pilot but couldn’t secure a position in IAF.
After graduating from Madras Institute of Technology he joined DRDO in the Aeronautical Development establishment as a scientist. This is where he met the great man we all know as Vikram Sarabhai
He visited NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia
Independently started work on a project for an expendable rocket while in DRDO
Looking at the scope of the project the government gave him more engineers to work on the project
Transferred to ISRO where he became the director for India’s First Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV III) which successfully deployed ROHINI satellite in near Earth orbit in July 1980
He directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, which were aimed at developing ballistic missiles
He lead the project called Integrated Guided Missile Development Program, which was the defense program that successfully developed missiles such as AGNI, PRITHVI, etc. and earned him the nickname the Missile Man of India
Received the Padma Bhushan for his service towards the nation
Received the Padma Vibhushan award
Appointed as the Chief Scientific Advisor to the PM and Secretary of the DRDO till 1999. It is during this phase that India successfully conducted the nuclear test Pokhran II
He received the highest civilian honour in India, the Bharat Ratna
His first book, ‘Wings of Fire’ was published
He was elected as the President of India, the elections to which he won pretty comfortably
He stepped down from the position of the President to do what he loved doing, teaching
While giving a lecture in IIM Shillong he suffered a fatal stroke and the world lost its brightest star
© copyright Kalam 2020