Spirit Of India

by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

English
180

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was one of India's most distinguished scientists. He was an Aerospace engineer, professor, and chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.

Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). He was responsible for the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle,the SLV-3 He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

He has the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from thirty universities and the country's three highest civilian honours - Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Bharat Ratna (1997).

Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who became popular as ‘People’s President’, passed away on July 27th, 2015 at the age of 83 in Shillong, India.

Reviews

[Gorab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spent an evening conversing with Dr Kalam via this book. A compilation of Q&A by students across India. Always inspiring 😍

[Purushothaman Ramachandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spirit of India is a book with selection of questions put to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during and after his tenure as the President of India. He has answered for the most interesting, intellectual to naive and irreverent questions in a simplistic way.
A man with positive thoughts, who inculcated the same to the entire nation, addresses all the concerns, aspirations and dreams of today's young India. From education, science, nation building, corruption, economic imbalance, communal hatred, divisive politics, national security, system failure to his personal interest he answers all our questions. Not a single answer passes a discouragement or negative thoughts to the questioner. More..

[Vansh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of people in the generations before me (and few in my own) were prevented from going down a path of political extremism and partisanship due to the presence of Abdul Kalam. Though he was already dead in my formative years, the legacy he had- how everyone from my school teachers, my parents to even the more “extremists” in my family spoke well of him. In the recordings and books I’ve experienced of him, you can’t help but be dazzled by the intensity and energy he has. Truly someone worth respecting and emulating.

[VK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful Book.. Few thoughts from Mr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in this book..

"The Moment all of us become givers and not takers, we will be in a position to live in a world without boundaries or borders"

"Terrorism is caused due to instability in the social structure. If we can provide adequate employment opportunity to the youth and remove the imbalanced distribution of wealth terrorism can be eradicated."

"Where there is righteousness in the heart,
There is beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
there is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home,
there is order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
there is peace in the world."

"My idea of education is to bring out the creativity of the individual"

"No job is menial or low, Education will enrich and enable people to perform the same job better, faster and cheaper"

"Education must lead to the creation of job-providers rather than job-seekers"

"Curiosity is the foundation for creativity and that along with a questioning mind will lead to the creation of scientific temperament"

"Encourage everyone to dream for themselves. Unless people have dreams they will not be motivated to attain them."

"Dream, sweat and perseverance.
You must have a goal in your life.
Work hard to achieve it. While
doing work you will definitely
encounter some problems but
you should face them boldly and
overcome the problem. if God is
with us who can be against us?"

"Hard work comes first. Fortune will favour you if you are persistent in hard work. There is a famous saying, 'God Helps those who help themselves'"

[Dev Ayan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative book, answering to the curiosities of the people by none other than Dr. Kalam himself. In this book, we find him replying to a variety of questions asked to him in various fields from science to politics to his personal life, all in a very simplistic approach.
Though some questions were naive, yet it makes a worth read for we find motivation in ways more than one. To become a better person, to contribute towards the nation's progress, to fulfill our ambition are the few.

[Gaurav Nawani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big admirer of our former president never leave a chance to read what he has to say about our beloved India. I had a fear that he might sound repetitive enough for me to loose interest, though some of it may be true to a extent but this was one of the gems I wanted to read from the great man. Loved it. Neat clean and to the point of where we are and should be.
Must for every Bharatwashi.