Skip to main content

My Days With Dr. Kalam - An Inspiration, An Enigma, An Experience


Ever since the news of his sad demise during a lecture in Sikkim came out, I immediately felt the magnitude of the loss that was upon us - upon science, upon a nation, upon leadership, upon children of an impressionable age and adults alike, upon time …

Dr. Kalam hadn’t been keeping well for quite some time. Age had taken its toll on his unbreakable spirit, and though he succumbed, he never lost. As he collapsed in the middle of a lecture, he was taken in the midst of something he had devoted his life to - science, learning, innovation and development. Looking back today, I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. As someone who’s spent a huge chunk of my career working with him on various of India’s missile missions , I have been lucky to know him, work with him and see him in action.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was a true inspiration. He was a great scientist, an ideal citizen and a human being of impeccable character.  He made efforts to blossom young minds – full of thoughts, the thoughts of all round prosperity and indeed thoughts of transforming and developing India into a developed India.  His four major qualities – clarity, determination, hard work and humility helped him achieve the impossible.

In my series, My Days with Dr. Kalam, I endeavor to show the world what I know and what I’ve shared with the enigma that is Dr. Kalam.

Our first stint - Kalam at DRDO :

I first saw Dr. Kalam for the first time at close quarters during his visit to DMRL on the invitation of Dr. Arunachalam, the then Director of DMRL, after successful launch of SLV-III in 1980-81.

He showcased the details of SLV-3 mission through a slide presentation to the Hyderabad- based DRDO community.  He made an outstanding impression on all of us through his simple, passionate and effective communication. I once read that a man of supreme intelligence can be judged on how he explains complexities in a simple way such that they are understood even by lay people.

Kalam was one of those people who was a clear example of this. He left an everlasting impression on my (then) young mind as to how a technologically complex project could be successfully completed through mission mode planning and execution.

Planning is an integral part of any project. Dr. Kalam was so advanced in his approach to planning a new mission. This was during my early years at DRDO and left a lasting impression on my mind and I implemented them in my training and purpose too.

I didn’t know it then but, it was the beginning of a series of lessons in Project Management by Dr. Kalam that he delivered during the IGMDP phase in a matter of fact manner. More than just Project Management, these translated as life skills for me. The importance of  planning and execution in the early stages shows in the efficiency of a project in the later stages. Immediately after this visit, Dr. Kalam’s journey back home to DRDO started and, after many deliberations in different quarters in GoI, he joined as Director, DRDL in 1982.

I’ll be covering my days with Dr. Kalam step-by-step chronologically in our career. In the next part of this series, I will write about My First Lesson in Range Safety.

Comments

  1. Vasudeva Murthy Vadlakonda8 November 2015 at 04:44

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vasudeva Murthy Vadlakonda8 November 2015 at 04:46

    Great effort to put a great man in right perspective. Thank you Dr. Saraswat.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Day In My Life - Glimpses of my recently concluded Rajasthan Trip

Rajasthan has always held a special place in my life, so when I was scheduled to travel there recently, I was quite looking forward to the trip. It was a three-day trip and I went about appointments as usual. A lot of my readers were asking me to write a post on some of the talks and seminars I’ve been a part of so I thought this trip would be a good place to start. I reached Rajasthan late on the 29th of August and prepped for a couple of meetings the next day.  It  was a bright sunny morning as always and after a quick morning routine I headed to meet Professor Bhatia , (Vice Chancellor, Poornima University) and Dr. Prabhat Pankaj, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management for the convocations held in their respective institutions. It was pleasant to meet the vibrant young graduates who will soon shape the face of our country.                                    ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Early life of Dr. V. K .Saraswat - Fighting stage fear

My position demands quite a lot of public speaking and addressing events and conventions, and other such public events. Almost often, I get invited to speak at the dais, facing the audience and the cameras to give my opinion or something, to speak of a decision made or to announce plans made by the body I’m currently associated with. I must say, that I’ve come to see it as a privilege today more than I did years ago, where I would tremble at the very thought of having to speak in front of an audience. It’s but natural, I think, for when we’re children to be afraid of public speaking. Some call it stage fear, some say “you’re a shy child” when we refuse to perform in front of relatives who come home while sometimes, you’re just a taciturn of sorts. Stage fright may be a small issue while growing up, but later often manifests itself in many ways - you may not be an active participant in college activities, you may not be very confident in job interviews and you may not be ...
2 comments
Read more

My take on Inclusive Growth – Part 2 ( ISB Dean Speaker series

  While growth still remains the most important parameter of any poverty reduction attempt, inclusive growth is basically related to redistributive growth. Inclusive development creates opportunities for all segments of the society in health, education, skill development, jobs, reducing poverty, entrepreneurship etc. on the principle of equality and focuses on outcomes and processes involving people’s participation and benefit-sharing. While one can’t have Economic Development without economic growth, GDP is not the only indicator of prosperity. A clear example of this statement are countries like China and India who have huge GDPs but lag behind in areas like health, overall wellness and life-expectancy among others. An inclusive green economy can reduce poverty and inequality We all aspire to reach better living conditions, yet this will not be possible by following the current growth model. We need a practical, 21 st century development model tha...
Post a Comment
Read more