How APJ Abdul Kalam symbolised the best of India
It was the mid 2000s. The ballroom of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai was packed to capacity with renowned cardiologists, most of whom had travelled across the globe to participate in the international medical conference on "non-invasive cardiac management". President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was to inaugurate the proceedings.
Then came the announcement that the president had had a fall and broken his arm. However, he did not wish to pull out from his commitment entirely, and would address the audience from the presidential mansion through a video conference. For most in the audience, doctors as well as journalists, it was a huge disappointment. Meanwhile, two large television screens were set up on either side of the podium. At the designated hour, Kalam promptly walked into camera focus. With one hand in a sling, he appeared perfectly composed; with the other he waved to the audience. He then apologised to the gathering for not being able to join them in person as he too had wanted to.
He said life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans. Before the audience could realise what exactly he had meant by that statement, pointing toward someone sitting in the journalists’ bloc, he said: “Sir you don’t have to take notes, the transcript of my speech will be uploaded in the president’s website in an hour from now.”
What followed actually baffled many in the audience, especially those who had come to participate in the conference from abroad. Kalam spoke with the assistance of presentation slides on how nanotechnology could be used in the management of heart ailments!
Heart specialists in the audience were in for more surprise when Kalam told them about his endeavours in applying defence technology to the cure of heart ailments. It was way back in 1994 that in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based eminent cardiologist, Dr Soma Raju, he developed the low-cost coronary stent that was later patented as the "Kalam-Raju" stent.
The locally developed stent made of surgical grade stainless steel cost only a fraction of the imported ones — this also proved its affordability to the average citizens of the country. The chain of hospitals under Dr Raju’s Care Foundation successfully implanted the Kalam-Raju stents in 511 heart patients within a span of three years. After the Q&A session a consultant cardiologist from Europe remarked: “If only we too had presidents like you Sir in our native lands rather than mere politicians,” only to be dismissed by a light-hearted smile from Kalam.
[In the years that followed after the commissioning of the K-R stent, Kalam was obsessed with the idea of developing a light-weight caliper for polio-affected children. He joined hands with Dr BN Prasad (then head of orthopaedics at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad) and later with Dr L Narendranath (who was Dr Prasad’s successor at NIMS) and, in 1998, his dream was realised. The caliper made of glass-filled polypropylene used in the construction of missiles weighed hardly 400gm, only one-tenth of the one that was in use at that time.]
Yet, skeptics argue that he was not the finest engineer the country has ever produced, nor was he the most erudite in the history of the occupants of one of the country's highest offices. He never obtained an academic PhD, though 30 universities had conferred honorary doctorates on him.
It was during his term as project director that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) put "Rohini" into space and got the initial PSLV design right. However, they are still struggling when it comes to Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
As a consequence, the Mars mission had to be powered by the less potent PSLV. Because the PSLV lacked the power to plot a straight forward path to the Mars, a complicated workaround had to be engineered for dealing with Earth’s gravity. The fact that Indian space scientists are still not adept at manoeuvring cryogenic engines will remain a handicap in the country’s space aspirations. While the development of the missile deterrents (Prithvi, Agni, Akash) and the "Light Combat Aircraft" (yet to be inducted into the IAF) have been remarkable, other key defence projects like the "main battle tank" and "gun radars" are years behind schedule.
Though the delays cannot be attributed solely to Kalam, he has been at the helm of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) long enough to push these projects forward. However, sadly the missions have floundered to deliver.
Some scientific circles also point out that Pokhran-II, one of Kalam's leading projects, was only a “semi-success”. It may be worth mentioning that none of the countries in possession of the H-bomb were able to roll out the contrivance in their initial attempts. Several DRDO scientists who were accessories to Pokhran-II and Pokhran-I, citing seismic statistics and energy outputs, say that the H-bomb demonstration was not successful. Most people associated with Kalam admire his leadership qualities and his ability to dodge bureaucratic snags. But his competency as an aeronautical engineer has been doubted by many. Not surprisingly, both IISc Bangalore, and IIT Madras did not want to admit him into the ranks of their teaching faculty.
Kalam’s nomination as president was nothing short of a masterstroke by the NDA. Being the first BJP-led government, they considered it a great asset to find room for a Muslim national hero in the nation’s highest office. Despite his naïveté with the political gamut, Kalam adapted without losing time to his new responsibilities. During the year-long standoff with Pakistan at the verge of war, and the times following the Gujarat riots, Kalam’s mellowed permeation proved to be nothing short of allaying the NDA.
Years later, in an interview to Karan Thapar, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conceded that without Kalam there would have been no nuclear deal with the United States. In the 2008 monsoon session of Parliament, CPM politbureau secretary Prakash Karat announced the Left block’s withdrawal of support to the UPA over the nuke deal. The Congress soon approached Mulayam Singh Yadav who boasted of a large Muslim vote bank under his wings. But it was Kalam reaching out to Yadav that actually swung the votes in UPA’s favour. Hardly a year ago, when Kalam had agreed to continue in office for another term on the condition of unanimity, the Congress party had no qualms in vetoing the call. For a political game player, this would have been the perfect opportunity to get even with the Congress and show his requital to the NDA, which had rewarded him with the Bharat Ratna and the presidency.
But Kalam had outgrown such a petty political witchhunt — and that earned him more than reverence from either side of the ideological spectrum at a time of intense political polarisation. The boatman’s son from the little-known fishing village of Rameswaram invariably went on to symbolise the best of India, the India with its composite mosaic of ethnicities, faiths and languages that synthesise themselves to form one unique identity.
With his long hair parted unfashionably in the centre and combed down to the sides reaching over his ears, Kalam was an unlikely pop culture idol. Yet, he adapted himself to most of the protocols demanded by the highest office he had come to occupy, without ever compromising on his hair style!
The news of having earned a nomination in the MTV Youth Icon of the Year in 2003 and 2006 must have surprised him, given that his idea of music had little in common with MTV’s.
After the "Battle of Badr" (the first open encounter between the Muslims and their Meccan oppressors), a large number of adversaries were taken prisoners by the Muslims. The detainees were required to pay a ransom to the captors for their freedom. Some of them were unable to raise enough funds to bargain for their redemption. Prophet Muhammad knew that most of the captives were literate and offered freedom to those who taught every ten Muslims who were illiterate to read and write. In doing what he was engaged in, in his final moments at the IIM in Shillong, Kalam was replicating that moment from a thousand and four hundred years ago, because he believed that knowledge always gave one the leverage over one’s adversaries and life was an endless pursuit of its attainment.
As a matter of fact, the tag that Kalam showed preference in being identified with was not that of the former president of the nation, nor the "missile man", but of the "Teacher" who would always impart knowledge to the next generation. He talked and walked that maxim.