Even as the country continues to mourn his passing, APJ Abdul Kalam’s books are flying off the shelves, say book sellers, with the former president’s autobiography, Wings of Fire, emerging as the top seller online.

Indeed, all the books authored by Kalam are in demand, with eight of them on the top 20 bestsellers list on online retailer Amazon.

After the ‘people’s president’ passed away on July 27 while addressing management students in Shillong, there has been an outpouring of grief nationwide.

“Over the past two days Wings of Fire has been the No. 1 best seller on Amazon.in,” and it has replaced Amish Tripathi’s latest book, Scion of Ikshvaku, said a spokesperson for Amazon India.

A Flipkart spokesperson, too, said there has been a surge in the sale of Kalam’s books, especially Wings of Fire .

A Gift for students

V Sridhar, the proprietor of Om Sakthi Books International, a bookstore in Chennai, said the number of enquiries for Kalam’s books has increased in the last few days. People are also buying the books as gifts, he added.

“Recently a school teacher placed an order for 50 books of India 2020 by Kalam as an annual School day gift to students,” Sridhar said.

The shop which has only India 2020 in stock now, is planning to add at least 50-100 copies of his other books — Ignited Minds , Target 3 Billion and Turning Points — to cater to bulk orders, as it expects more demand from schools in the coming days. Each book will be sold at a 10 per cent discount and for bulk orders there will be a 20 per cent discount, he said.

M Meenakshi, a professor, said: “We plan to buy Kalam’s books as gifts for outgoing students and toppers from our college.”

T Arul Jothi, owner of Annai Book Centre in Chennai, said at least 10 people came to buy both English and Tamil versions of his autobiography.

“School and college students have been buying 20-30 books from the store in bulk,” he added.

The books were sold at ₹100 each.

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