HYDERABAD: In the late ’80s at the Rashtrapathi Nilayam in Bolarum, a man wearing a crumpled coat, with hair uncombed, stood at a distance alone. The occasion was an ‘At Home’ event hosted by the then president of India, R Venkataraman.

Hardly anyone recognised APJ Abdul Kalam. He was the director of Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad, but as someone who maintained a low profile, he was little known. This reporter who recognised him spoke with him. Little did Abdul Kalam know that one day he himself would host an ‘At Home’ on the same premises on becoming the President of India.

And in 2002, just 10 days before his name came up as the next President of India to succeed KR Narayanan, he was spending time in Hyderabad doing what he loved most – interacting with schoolchildren, inspiring them to ‘dream, dream and dream’.

“You young fellow, what do you want to become,” he asked a boy pulling his shirt from behind. “Children have to dream big as they are the future of the nation. I intend to reach one lakh students with the message,” he told this reporter in 2002. He was to surpass that figure later.

If Kalam was attached to any place in the country, it was Hyderabad. “The place I loved most is the Research Centre Imarat,” he told this reporter once. Kalam had come from ISRO to DRDL at Kanchanbagh as director in 1983. The government had conceived the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

“He was the Missile Man of India. He had great leadership qualities and trusted people. He had confidence in their abilities,” missile scientist Tessy Thomas who was project director of Agni-IV, told TOI. Kalam led from the front in developing Agni, Akash Prithvi, Nag and Trishul missiles.

If the success of Agni gave him immense satisfaction, Kalam did not limit his thinking to defence. He was keen that the spinoffs of defence research benefit the poor. As part of this effort, the Kalam-Raju stent was developed to be used in heart surgeries.

The stent was developed in association with well-known heart surgeon Dr Soma Raju. The stent was quite affordable compared to the cost one would have to pay for the stents imported.

As director of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Kalam pursued his interest in taking defence technology for the benefit of the public. He got lightweight calipers developed for orthopaedic patients which were given away at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences when Dr Kakarla Subba Rao was the director of the hospital. Instead of a three kg load of calipers, patients were able to use 300 gm weight of calipers with material provided through defence research.

Abdul Kalam made numerous visits to Hyderabad since he demitted office of the President of India. Meeting defence scientists separately would always be on his agenda even as President. And the meetings would take place at the Research Centre Imarat, a 2,000 acre defence premises he developed.

Kalam’s “Wings of Fire” – An autobiography was written in 1999 along with Dr Arun Tiwari of Hyderabad who had once worked with Kalam on missile technology. He was also the brain behind Herbal Gardens developed at Rashtrapati Nilayam in Bolarum.

