He aimed for the skies but with feet planted firmly on the ground

It was a blistering afternoon in May 1989 when I first encountered APJ Abdul Kalam in Hyderabad. As a young PTI journalist, I waited for hours outside the Research Centre Imarat (Kalam’s brainchild) to file an important news story. My patience paid off and the short interaction led to a big article. Kalam had proudly proclaimed that “India successfully launched the Agni missile.” The nation had truly ‘arrived’ in the international defence arena that day. Having progressed through three decades with a mixed bag of laurels with respect to missiles, India, under Kalam’s vision, had transformed into a force to be reckoned with.

A few weeks later I saw him at a press conference attended by top defence scientists like VS Arunachalam, former scientific advisor to the Defence Minister, and missile expert RN Agarwal.

Kalam endeared himself with crisp and clear responses to questions posed by reporters. When asked, if the Agni missile could launch nuclear bombs, he explained in his inimitable style, how it was possible to send a bouquets of flowers or a packet of samosas onboard the missile to the desired destination (mentioning its nuclear capabilities was out of question, as India was faced with sanctions then).

When someone probed him on why missiles were named Agni, Prithvi, Nag, Trishul and Akash under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), Kalam said, to the surprise of many, that the names were inspired by Indian mythology and that he was well versed in the scriptures. He cemented that claim when a reporter inquired Kalam of his responsibility as a technologist to have developed a weapon of mass destruction. Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, he said, “I am like Arjuna in the Mahabharata. I do my job for the good of people.”

Kalam was fully and truly ‘Made in India.’ He studied aeronautical engineering in Tamil Nadu, joined ISRO and moved on to DRDO. He was never trained abroad, but completely dedicated himself to his passion - his Vision 2020 of transforming India from a developing to a developed nation.

New heights

Kalam’s journey became more impressive, as he grew in stature to become the Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and later to the Prime Minister to guide the path of self-reliance. Though he fell short of his goal of 60 per cent indigenous development and could not follow through the projects like Light Combat Aircraft, Nuclear Submarine, Main Battle Tank (Arjun) to the production stage, he mentored a string of motivated leaders to continue the work.

A decade ago, when speaking to BusinessLine on leadership qualities, Kalam narrated the example of Satish Dhawan the eminent space scientist and one of his gurus.

Leading by example “I was the leader of the first development flight of the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). After all preparations, the launch failed. There was hushed silence as we had to face the media. As Chairman of ISRO, Satish Dhawan took all the blame. A few months later we succeeded in launching it. At that point, Dhawan gave all the credit to me and the team. Real leaders are those who credit the right people in success, own up to failures and defend their colleagues”, he said.

His commitment to transform India is best illustrated by two instances. First through a collaborative exercise involving the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), 17 areas were identified in 1996-97 to make India self-reliant in technologies under Vision 2020. Many developmental projects in states utilise the finer elements from these documents.

The second, and perhaps one of his biggest contributions, is of forging team spirit or building consortia in taking up national challenges and solving them. The ‘Pokhran-2’ nuclear blasts in May 11, 1998 illustrate this rare quality as be brought together the DRDO, DAE and the armed forces to beat the watchful eyes of the US and make Operation Shakthi successful.

A week later on May 18 along with Dr R Chidambaram, the Atomic Energy Chief, he was present at an international media conference in Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi. A journalist from US asked Kalam, what was the rationale behind India, a poor nation with compelling challenges of hunger, sanitation and education to conduct nuclear explosions and what was the threat perception?

Kalam in his typical manner said “Gentleman, let me refresh you about India’s history. In thousands of years, it never enjoyed a good period of peace, as it was continuously attacked. Even after Independence, there have been four wars. Our neighbourhood is hostile. In contrast, the US has hardly been attacked and it does not face a threat nearby. So, he countered, does India require nuclear weapons or the US which possesses a stockpile. Strength respects strength, he argued.

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