INDIAN GREAT SCIENTIST AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER
APJ ABDULKALAM
Born on 15th October, 1931, at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Kalam spent most of his childhood running into financial problems and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income.
Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society, with Kalam strictly following his religious routine. Kalam, as a child, had a tough routine , he would start his day by getting up at 4:00 am study and review his homework before going to school to attend the mathematics class as his first class of the day.After completing school, Kalam along with his cousin Samsuddin Kalam distributed papers in order to financially contribute to his father's income.
In his school years, He was described as a mediocre student who had average grades in his class, but a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. Kalam spent hours on his studies, especially in mathematics, and his teachers always regarded him as a student who made an effort in his studies.
After completing his school education, Kalam went on to attend the Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli where he graduated in Physics in 1954 but towards the end he was not enthusiastic about seeing himself as a physicist.Kalam soon discovered Aerospace Engineering at Madras, and he regretted the loss of the four years spent in physics.
In 1955, Kalam moved to Madras and began taking courses on Aerospace engineering. While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean of the Engineering came by to see Kalam's progress.
The Dean was dissatisfied with Kalam's progress and said that his scholarship would be revoked if the project wasn't finished within the next two days. Kalam worked tirelessly on his project, and met the deadline. His tireless effort impressed the Dean who said, "It was a test, and under extreme stress, Kalam met a difficult deadline to complete the project".
