Missile Man of India

                       Missile Man of India 

                         A. P. J Abdul Kalam 

19 .sep. 2021 ,New Delhi 

Early Life 

Kalam was the youngest of five siblings, the eldest of whom was a sister, Asim Zohra (d. 1997), followed by three elder brothers: Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar (5 November 1916 – 7 March 2021), Mustafa Kalam (d. 1999) and Kasim Mohammed (d. 1995). He was extremely close to his elder siblings and their extended families throughout his life, and would regularly send small sums of money to his older relations, himself remaining a lifelong bachelor.

Kalam was noted for his integrity and his simple lifestyle.He never owned a television, and was in the habit of rising at 6:30 or 7 a.m. and sleeping by 2 a.m. His few personal possessions included his books, his veena, some articles of clothing, a CD player and a laptop; at his death, he left no will, and his possessions went to his eldest brother, who survived him

Educational background 

In his school years, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics After completing his education at the Schwartz Higher Secondary School, Ramanathapuram, Kalam went on to attend ,saint Joseph college  then affiliated with the University of Madras from where he graduated in physics  in 1954. He moved to Madras  in 1955 to study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of technology While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with his lack of progress and threatened to revoke his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next three days. Kalam met the deadline, impressing the Dean, who later said to him, "I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline". He narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, as he placed ninth in qualifiers, and only eight positions were available in the Indian Air Force 

                  In his book - wings of fire 

 

He wrote a chapter on his Mother.  Title with ‘Mother’

Mother
“I still remember the day when I was ten,
Sleeping on your lap to the envy of my elder brothers and sisters.
It was full moon night, my world only you knew Mother!, My Mother!
When at midnight, I woke with tears falling on my knee
You knew the pain of your child, My Mother.
Your caring hands, tenderly removing the pain
Your love, your care, your faith gave me strength,
To face the world without fear and with His strength.
We will meet again on the great Judgment Day. My Mother!

This is the story of my mother who lived ninety three years, a woman of love, a woman of kindness and above all a woman of divine nature. My mother performed Namaz five times everyday. During Namaz, my mother always looked angelic. Every time I saw her during Namaz I was inspired and moved.

                                          By, Dr. APJ Abdulkalam

A. P. J Abdul Kalam as a scientist played a major role in India's first Nuclear tests in Pokharan range. 

Christened as ‘Operation Shakti’, a series of five nuclear explosions were carried out between May 11 and May 13, after which the Central government declared India a full-fledged nuclear state.

In Pokhran there was a noise like huge thunder, followed by cheers. In Delhi, the five leaders were huddled around a telephone.

That’s when Scientific Advisor to Vajpayee, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam sent a message: “Buddha has smiled again.”

It was a reference to an earlier call to Indira Gandhi: “Buddha has smiled”, during India's first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974.

Pokhran-II was a secret from 1989 to 1998. Despite seven different PMs, not a word of it leaked to the press.

In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi took a call to make India a nuclear state, setting in place a team that included Naresh Chandra (defence secretary), VS Arunachalam (head of DRDO), PK Iyengar, R Chidambaram and of course APJ Abdul Kalam.

The test happened months after then foreign secretary K Raghunath told his US counterpart that India did not have any intention of testing a nuclear device

The Indian agencies tried many methods to hide their operations from the US satellite. As the desert of Pokhran provided no cover, artificial sand dunes were created to give it a natural feel.

According to an article in WION, “the thermonuclear device was placed in a shaft code-named ‘White House’, which was over 200 m deep, the fission bomb was placed in a 150 m deep shaft code-named ‘Taj Mahal’, and the first sub-kiloton device in ‘Kumbhkaran’. The first three devices were placed in their respective shafts on 10 May, and the first device to be placed was the sub-kiloton device in the ‘Kumbhkaran’ shaft, which was sealed by the army engineers by 8:30 pm.”

The bombs were flown to Jaisalmer from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, and from there they were taken to Pokhran through trucks.

Scientists also wore army uniform to stay under the radar. Every attempt was made to show that the Indian Army was going to do its business as usual.

The test opened floodgates of trouble for India: sanctions, economic and military, and interactional isolation. And the immediate challenge was to mitigate international opposition and bridge the trust gap with the US. And immediately after tests, the US suspended the foreign secretary-level talks for the following two years.

The nuclear test was important for India as post-1974; Pakistan had actively started acquiring nuclear weapons. And China was sharing technology and materials with Pakistan and it was publically known. The Indian Armed forces knew very well that the Pakistan Army had nuclear weapons. And so, there was this situation in which India was faced with two nuclear-capable adversaries. There were other geopolitical reasons as well, but the point is that the situation had come to a level where India had to take a decision (to test).

'Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran' is directed by Abhishek Sharma and also stars Diana Penty and Boman Irani. According to reports Yogendra Tiku has played the role of Dr Kalam in the film. However, as per John’s statement in the Indian Express, the film has not named the characters as those in real life.

He said, “Besides changing the names of the characters because of rights issues and biopic issues, we couldn’t keep Abdul Kalam’s name or Chidambaram’s name or Kakotkar’s name (all scientists from the Pokhran Test 1998). The plot is 85% true, only my character is fictitious.”