Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. His name speaks for himself. Born on October 15, 1931, in Tamil Nadu, India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam^ , was the eleventh President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007. Due to his unconventional working style, he is also popularly known as the People's President. Before his term as India's president, he distinguished himself as engineering visionary and was awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with DRDO and his role as scientific advisor to the Indian government. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work and is considered a progressive mentor, innovator and visionary in India.
Speaking on Social Inequality in India...
"Whenever I come to know of the problem of communalism and social inequality, I vividly recollect one incident at Rameswaram Elementary School, I was in the fifth standard. I always used to sit in the front row along with my close friend Ramaswamy. A new teacher had come to our class. The teacher could not comprehend a Brahmin boy and a Muslim boy sitting together. In accordance with the social ranking as perceived by the new teacher. I was asked to go and sit on the back bench. I felt very indignant and so did Ramaswamy. Even today I am living with the image imprinted on my subconscious mind of Ramaswamy crying in the class when I changed my seat to the rear row. When this incident was related to our respective father's traditional close friends, the teacher was summoned and told by them that what he had done was a snake's work. Strong convictions of our parents reformed the teacher half a century ago." - Dr A P J Abdul Kalam
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