MILESTONES 2015-16

WHAT I LEARNT FROM THE LIFE OF A.P.J ABDUL KALAM
“Dreams are not that you get when you sleep but they are that don’t make you
sleep” is a famous quote of the 11th president of India, the missile man of India
and the only man who loved children as much as nobody did. He was A.P.J Abdul
Kalam. I am proud to say that I am going to share few inspirational moments from
the life of this great man.
Once Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam rejected the idea to put broken glass on the wall of
building that needed protection. That was because he didn’t want to hurt the birds
that come and rest on the wall. This showed his love towards the animals. He had
got a habit of signing his own ‘thank you cards’. Any letters, greetings that come
to him, he used to reply with his own handwriting and signature. This showed his
thankfulness and how humble and generous he was.
Once he was asked to invite two presidential guests to Kerala’s Raj Bhavan and he
invited a roadside cobbler and an owner of a very small hotel. This showed his love
and affection towards every man he met in his life. Once during an event Dr. Kalam
refused to sit on a chair that was designed for him, just because it was larger than the
rest of the chairs. This shows his simplicity.
The company which manufactured wet grinders gifted Kalam a grinder. Now,
though he wanted one for his house, he refused it. So he wrote out a cheque for Rs
4,850. They were very honoured by this that they framed and hung it on the wall
proudly without depositing it. After two months they received a call from Kalam’s
office demanding to deposit the cheque. This is also one example for his simplicity
and how down to the earth he was. I would like to imbibe all these
qualities from Dr. Abdul Kalam.
Pranathi Komarapu, Grade VII Latitudes
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