Remembering Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on One Month of his Death

Today, 27th August 2015, its been exactly one month we lost our dear Missile Man Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.

The last time death stared him in the face, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was composed; with a reassuring smile playing on his lips. The extraordinary man was a picture of imperturbable confidence though death appeared imminent just before the Pawan Hans helicopter he was travelling in crashed in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district in September 2001 — nearly ten months before Kalam took over as India’s 11th President and 14 years before he finally lost his battle for life following a cardiac arrest on 27th July 2015. It was on September 30, 2001 when Kalam, then the principal scientific adviser to prime minister, had boarded the helicopter from Ranchi on way to Bokaro where he had to attend a school function.

And though Kalam too had sustained injuries and sprain in his body after the fall, he drove straight from the crash site to the Ramakrishna Vidyalaya in Bokaro to address the students as per the schedule. Kalam had then told the kids to dream big.

It was a clear reflection of the great man’s sense of timeliness and of his great personal courage. He did not waste time lamenting his condition, nor did he seek sympathy. If those who attended him at the school did not know about the accident, they would not have even suspected it.

At the school function, Kalam had behaved precisely as he did before, and even though he was in pain after the crash-landing, he conducted himself without letting any injury overwhelm his capacity or determination.

Known for his love for students, Kalam was also delivering his speech on Livable Planet Earth at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong when he collapsed on Monday evening. Every inch of this planet would miss him forever.

It was on 27th July 2015, he took his last breath. We, the News To Fuse team, pay homage and tribute to him with some of the best words and lines, Dr. Kalam spoke.