ILLUSTRATIONS
OF THE STORY

Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM
India's 11th President, who gave us an Indian
Dream, far better than the American Dream
(Ranjit Singh)






Undoubtedly, it is the sign of a great man that he prefers work to rest, humility to vanity, and
victory-spirit to defeatism.
Former president of India and the author of Vision 2020, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is a true replica of hard work,
humility, and victory-spirit. He is the man who had to work as a newspaper vender to finance his early
education but rose to the highest position of India’s first man, our 11th president and that, too, “as India’s
most popular and the greatest president, so far” according to a CNN–IBN poll.

Born on October 15, 1931, in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, his parents gave him the name of Avul Pakir
Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. His father, a devout Muslim, a middle class owner of fishing boats, was friendly to
Hindu priests and schoolteachers. Consequently, APJ grew up in an environment of secularism and struggle.
APJ never married, remained a vegetarian, and teetotaler, concentrating all his energies in pursuit of
knowledge and scholarship. He graduated from Madras Institute of Technology, majoring in aeronautical
engineering, but his contributions to the society and our nation were so commendable that as many as 30
universities graced him with honorary doctorates.

His achievements are many. However, his visibility was made possible by his great contributions to the
weaponization program of India, which made India an acknowledged nuclear power state. On the one hand,
India’s voice in the international affairs became louder and stronger, and on the other, India developed
deterrents to counter the increasing belligerency of China and its  conspiracy to clandestinely arm Pakistan
with nuclear power.

Dr. Abdul Kalam, made important contributions to India’s first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. He
designed, and helped develop many missiles, including, Agni and Prithvi. He made India an exclusive member
of Space Club. His contributions were so great that he came to be known as “the Missile man of India”.

TALENT ACKNOWLEDGED: His talents as a scientist-engineer did not remain
unnoticed. He was appointed as scientific advisor to Minister of Defense (July 1992-December 1999) and,
then, elevated as the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India with the rank of Cabinet Minister.
He was responsible for “evolving policies, strategies, and missions for many development applications”.

It was during these years of closeness with the government of India that the N.D.A. Regime of honorable A.B.
Vajpayee entrusted him with a project of leading India to the center stage of the world. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam,
along with Dr. R. Chidambram, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, coordinated the nuclear blasts in
May 1998, which came to be known as Pokharan-II.

Known only to the Prime Minister ,Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister, LK Advani, External Affairs minister
Jaswant Singh, and National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra, the blasts were so meticulously planned that no
one, even the U.S. surveillance and spying machine could know till they were made public through a press
conference addressed by the prime minister of that time.

India had become a nuclear state, universally condemned by almost every country of the world with Clinton
Administration imposing sanctions on India. However, the people at home, especially the youth were very
jubilant with a sense of empowerment and security, though some pockets of activists of nuclear free region
were not happy.

HONORS FOLLOWED: A grateful nation was honoring Dr. Kulam for his contributions in
empowering the nation. In 1981, he was honored with Padma Bhushan, in 1990, with Padma Vibhushan, and
in 1997, with Bharat Ratna. And in 2002, when the political community was looking for the 11th president of
India, they spotted him as an uncontroversial and a meritorious potential leader.

SECULAR EQUATION: As his name came up, many political leaders, including Jayalalitha,
and Mulayam Singh Yadav boasted off proposing his name. Crossing the party lines the then ruling Party
BJP and opposition party Congress displaced a consensus on him. Left groups came forward with their own
candidate, Captain Lakshmi Bai of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj. When Dr. APJ submitted
his nomination, with Sri Vajpayee sitting to his right and Sonia Gandhi to his left, his smooth success was
assured.

He became the 11th president of India. At that time, NDA was the government. But, in 2004, UPA replaced
NDA. By a twist of events, when Sonia Gandhi stepped aside to make Dr. Manmohan Singh the prime
minister, a wonderful secular equation was created. Indians, the world over, began boasting of belonging to a
country with a Muslim as its president, a Sikh as its prime minister, a Hindu as leader of opposition, and a
Christian as a leader of the ruling party. But, this secular equation came to an end. In 2007, even though,
people of India wished for a second term for him, yet the two mainstream parties-Congress, and BJP- failed to
evolve a consensus, which was Dr. Kalam’s precondition to contest. Having served India as its President from
May 25, 2002 to May 25, 2007, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam opted out and was succeeded by the first woman
President of India, Pratibha Patil. He left behind a track record, which was dotted, more with nation building
acts rather than with acts of politics. He had been touring all over India, interacting with the students and the
youth, inspiring them to move on to lead India to yet greater heights.

AN INDIAN DREAM: His vision India 2020 is shaping an INDIAN DREAM, far better than the
American Dream. Whereas the American dream is woven around riches alone, the Kalam’s Indian dream is
shaped around “a unique blend of riches and culture derived from civilization herittage.” The Indian society
will not be individualistic but will enjoy the benefits of growth with parents and children in extended families.
He forecasts that all our 545 million youth of today with good education and degrees will transform India from
an industrial economy to information economy. All our 600,000 villages will have all connectivities and with
the introduction of PURAS (Providing urban amenities to rural areas), our villages will not lack behind towns.
All our rivers will be interlinked, leading to an end to shortages of drinking water, floods and droughts. India
will switch on to renewable and environment friendly energy sources. India will emerge as a just nation with
equitable distribution of resources, with narrowed rich-poor gap and poverty completely eliminated. And
among other scenarios, India will produce more employment generators than employment seekers.

Could Vision India 2020 be in Jeopardy? The end results of Vision India-
2020  (read below) could be in danger of remaining just the outbursts of a visionary, if they are not properly
cared. India, like other capitalistic countries is breaking the barriers of entrepreneur capitalism and is fast
entering into financial capitalism. Honestly, we cannot trust TRICKLE DOWN theory. The world has seen that
development does not lift all boats equally, as is often propagated.

Dr. Kalam’s dream for India will be made possible only if appropriate infrastructure is created. Dr. Kalam shall
consider forming Vision 2020 NGO, with chapters in every block of India to act as the watchdogs, so that our
economic growth does no create only a few islands of abundance in the vast ocean of deprivation.

If this happens, Dr. Kalam’s vision will fall part and we all will be losers.
(Ranjit Singh)
“It does not matter who I am,
I will work, work, and work.”
Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM's Vision of India
Distinctive Profile of India 2020
I visualize the following distinctive profile of India by the year 2020.

1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.

2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water.

3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony.

4. A Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.

5. A Nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors.

6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all.

7. A Nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free.

8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the
society feels alienated.

9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.

10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership through creative and effective leadership in Parliament,
State Assemblies and other institutions of the State

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