| Agni. Prithvi. Akash. Trishul. Nag. They sound like an
arsenal for the gods. In the past decade, these weapons of war have taken India into the
rarefied heights of being a missile power of some consequence. They have also become
synonymous with their maker: Avul Pakir Jainulabeen Abdul Kalam. As chief of India's
defence research and development programme, Kalam, 66, transformed moribund government
organisations into fighting machines that can deliver. A bachelor, Kalam leads a spartan
life and when he is not working 18 hours a day -- which is most of the time -- he writes
poetry or plays the veena. A man of war who is at peace with himself. Public recognition
came in November when he joined the illustrious company of the likes of Sir C.V. Raman to
be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian award. The boat owner's son
from the boondocks of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu has sailed to where the ocean meets the sky
-- and far beyond. |
 "I was just a partner to the dreams
of young people." |
