The journey of A P J Abdul Kalam as a space scientist began in early 1960s at Thumba, a coastal village near here, which housed India’s first rocket launcher, Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launcher.
I K Gujral congratulating former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam after he was conferred with the Bharat Ratna at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. (Source: Express photo by Virendra Singh)
He was an architect of the Indian defence and scientific establishment, he played the Veena, admired the Gita and weeks after the Gujarat riots, the choice of a Muslim candidate was seen as a salve to the bruised image of the NDA government.
The then President K R Narayanan confering Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in New Delhi. (Source: Express archive)
Kalam was one of the few young scientists sent by Dr Vikram Sarabhai for training of ‘sounding rockets’ at the National Aeronautics Space Agency in the US. When he reached Thumba in 1964, Kalam had little to fall back on.
Dr R. Chidambaram with Dr. Kalam. Chimdambaram is a metallurgist who is known for his integral role in India's nuclear weapons program; he coordinated test preparation for the Pokhran-I and Pokhran-II. (Source: Express archieve)
He had converted a cattle shed at this coast into a laboratory to work on sounding rockets. In those days, even rocket parts and payloads were transported by bicycle. Kalam, who was not a cyclist, used to hitch a ride with his former colleague R Aravamudan, who was also handpicked by Vikram Sarabhai.
Dr. Kalam seen with LK Advani at a event in Mumbai. (Source: Express archive)
One of the little known facts about former President A P J Abdul Kalam is that he has a medical invention to his name — a coronary stent built with missile composites that dramatically brought down the cost of heart stents from Rs 55,000 to Rs 10,000 in the mid-1990s.
Former president Dr APJ Kalam deliver lecture on Homi Bhabha Birth Centenary Commemoration TIFR Foundation Day at Colaba. (Source: Express Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)
Dr. Abdul Kalam, who received several prestigious awards including Bharat Ratna, played a crucial role when India tested its nuclear weapons at Pokhran in 1998 when the Vajpayee government was in power.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Pramod Mahajan, Bhairon singh Shekhawat and other senior sceintist and army officals at the site of 1998 Pokharan nuclear missile launch. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Batra)
The SLV 3, the rocket system that has gone on to become the bedrock of the Indian space programme, has been Kalam’s biggest contribution to the Indian space mission, spawning new generation launchers like the Augmented SLV, the Polar SLV and most recently the Geo synchronous SLV.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam being felicitated during the Silver jubilee celebrations of SIES college at Shanmukhananda hall in Matunga. (Source: Express photo by Kevin D'Souza)
“Dr. Kalam was a great scientist who contributed immensely in the field of science and technology as well as space. I have lost a marg darshark,” PM Modi said. “He was a source of inspiration for the whole country, particularly the youth. Even in his last days, he remained connected,” he added.
APJ Abdul Kalam in riots affected Godhra. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi seen with him in the picture. (Source: Express archive)
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam felicitated 100-year-old body builder from Kolkata Manohar Aich during the celebration of Shanmukhananda Hall Diamond Jubilee. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Nadka)
"At Rashtrapati Bhawan I found a letter from our first President, Rajendra Prasad to Nobel laureate Sir C V Raman in 1954 asking him to come to Rashtrapati Bhawan to accept the Bharat Ratna. Anyone would have jumped at the offer. Then I read Sir CV Raman’s reply to the invitation. It said, “Dear Mr President, I thank you for giving me such a great honour, but I have a problem. I am guiding a scholar and he is submitting his thesis in December-January. I have to sign the thesis and won’t be able to accept the invitation, ” Dr. Kalam said at Idea Exchange. (Source: Express archive)
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam being sworn-in as the 11th President of India by the then Chief Justice of India B N Kirpal at the central hall of Parliament in New Delhi. (Source: PTI file photo)
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam presents the outstanding parliamentarian award for the year 2000 to the member of parliament Arjun Singh as the then speaker of Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee looks on during a function to confer the awards for the year 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 in the parliament house in New Delhi. (Source: Reuters file photo)
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam intervenes in the debate after presenting the second Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism awards on Monday night. On stage (from left): moderators Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN and Barkha Dutt of NDTV; panelists Shobhana Bhartia of The Hindustan Times, N Ram of The Hindu, Ravi Dhariwal of Bennett, Coleman (publishers of The Times of India), Pankaj Pachauri of NDTV India and Shekhar Gupta of The Indian Express. (Source: Express archive)
During the Ramnath Goenka Awards, Dr. Kalam had broken protocol and sat on the dais to interact with the journalists present at the ceremony. (Source: Express archive)
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in Sukhoi-30 MKI. (Source: Express photo by Ravindra Joshi)
Dr. Abdul Kalam at his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg in New Delhi. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
செங்காந்தள் மலர், கண்வலிக்கிழங்கு கண்வலிக்கிழங்கு, காந்தள் மலர், கலப்பைக்கிழங்கு, செங்காந்தள் மலர், கார்த்...