A P J Abdul Kalam :

Early life and education : A P Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam  was born on 15 October 1931 to a Tamil Muslim family in the pilgrimage center of  ராமேஸ்வரம் on Pam ban Island, then in the Madras Presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen Marakayar was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife. His father owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between  ராமேஸ்வரம் and the now uninhabited தனுஷ்கோடி. Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his family. His ancestors had been wealthy Marakayar traders and landowners, with numerous properties and large tracts of land. Even though his ancestors had been wealthy Marakayar traders, the family had lost most of its fortunes by the 1920s and was poverty-stricken by the time Kalam was born. Marakayar are a Muslim ethnic found in coastal Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka who claim descendant from Arab traders and local women. Their business had involved trading groceries between the mainland and the island and to and from Sri Lanka, as well as ferrying pilgrims between the mainland and Pam ban. As a young boy, he had to sell newspapers in order to add to the family's meager income. With the opening of the Pam ban Bridge to the mainland in 1914, however, the businesses failed and the family fortune and properties were lost over time, apart from the ancestral home.

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's College, Tiruchirappalli, 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 He 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 IAF.    Career as a scientist :   After graduating from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1960, He joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the Defense Research and Development Organization (by Press Information Bureau, Government of India) as a scientist after becoming a member of the Defense Research & Development Service (DRDS). He started his career by designing a small hovercraft, but remained unconvinced by his choice of a job at DR DO. He was also part of the IN CO SP AR committee working under VRAM Sarabhai, the renowned space scientist. In 1969, He was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he was the project director of India's first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully deployed the RO HI NI satellite in near-earth orbit in July 1980; He had first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DR DO in 1965. In 1969, He received the government's approval and expanded the program to include more engineers. He was invited by Raja Ramanna to witness the country's first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in its development. In the 1970s, He also directed two projects, Project Devil and Project Valiant, which sought to develop ballistic missiles from the technology of the successful SLV Program  Despite the disapproval of the Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under his directorship. He played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects. His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in the 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship. கலாம் and அருணாச்சலம் metallurgist and scientific adviser to the Defense Minister, worked on the suggestion by the then Defense Minister, வெங்கட்ராமன், on a proposal for simultaneous development of a quiver of missiles instead of taking planned missiles one after another. வெங்கட்ராமன் was instrumental in getting the cabinet approval for allocating ₹ 3.88 billion for the mission, named Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGM DP) and appointed he as the chief executive. He played a major part in developing many missiles under the mission,  including Agni, an intermediate range ballistic missile and பிரித்திவி.  The tactical surface-to-surface missile, although the projects have been criticized for mismanagement and cost and time overruns.    Presidency :  Kalam served as the 11th president of India, succeeding  Narayana. He won the 2002 presidential election with an electoral vote of 922,884, surpassing the 107,366 votes won by Lakshmi. His term lasted from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007.  

Religious and spiritual views :

Religion and spirituality were very important to he throughout his life. He made his own spiritual journey the subject of his final book, Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Swami,  கலாம் desire to meet spiritual leaders to help create a more prosperous, spiritual, and unified India was what initially led him to meet Swami, the Hindu guru of the BAPS Swami, who he would come to consider his ultimate spiritual teacher and guru. The first of eight meetings between Kalam and Swami over a fourteen-year period took place on 30 June 2001 in New Delhi, during which he described being immediately Swami's simplicity and spiritual purity.   Writings : In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocated an action plan to develop India into a "knowledge superpower" and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regarded his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.

கலாம் describes a "transformative moment" in his life when he asked Swami, the guru of the BAPS Swami, how India might realize this five-pronged vision of development.  Swami's answer—to add a sixth area developing faith in God and spirituality to overcome the current climate of crime and corruption—became the spiritual vision for the next 15 years  of his life, which he describes in his final book, Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with பிரமுக் Swami, published just a month before his death, etc.

 Awards and honors : 

Kalam received 7 honorary doctorates from 40 universities. The Government of India honored him with the பத்மபூஷன் in 1981 and the பத்ம விபூசண் in 1990 for his work with ISRO and DR DO and his role as a scientific adviser to the Government. In 1997, He received India's highest civilian honor, பாரத ரத்னா, for his contribution to the scientific research and modernization of defense technology in India. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Won Braun Award from the National Space Society "to recognize excellence in the management, and leadership of a space-related project".

 In 2012, Kalam was ranked number 2 in Outlook India's poll of the Greatest Indian.

 Following his death, Kalam received numerous tributes. The Tamil Nadu state government announced that his birthday, 15 October, would be observed across the state as "Youth Renaissance Day;" the state government further instituted the "Dr. A P J அப்துல் கலாம் Award", constituting an 8-gram gold medal, a certificate and ₹500,000 (US$6,600). The award will be awarded annually on Independence Day, beginning in 2015, to residents of the state with achievements in promoting scientific growth, the humanities or the welfare of students.

  On the anniversary of Kalam's birth in 2015 the CBSE set topics on his name in the CBSE expression series.

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi ceremonially released postage stamps commemorating கலாம் at DR DO Pavan in New Delhi on 15 October 2015, the 84th anniversary of his birth, and he got more awards, etc.

 Death : On 27 July 2015, Kalam travelled to Shillong to deliver a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong. While climbing a flight of stairs, he experienced some discomfort, but was able to enter the auditorium after a brief rest. At around 6:35 p.m. IST, only five minutes into his lecture, he collapsed. He was rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital in a critical condition; upon arrival, he lacked a pulse or any other signs of life. Despite being placed in the intensive care unit, Kalam was confirmed dead of a sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45 p.m. IST. His last words, to his aide  Pal Singh, were reportedly: Funny guy! Are you doing well ?. He was telling, "To Do Always Dream"...