Bharat Ratna Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

“Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident” is said by a person who is the epitome of excellence himself.

On this day, 90 years back, was born a boy whose birth anniversary is celebrated as World Students day in honour of his contributions towards education and students. Yes, it is the 90th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Just like for any other Indian, he was my favourite president too. 

Born in Rameshwaram, he sold newspapers to financially support his family at a young age, completed his schooling in Ramanathapuram, studied aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology, missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot by one position, went on to become a scientist and later served as the 11th president of India. He is one of my biggest inspirations. He is a recipient of many awards, honours, titles yet I am sure that if I had met him, he would have been just another person. That explains his level of humility and simplicity. 

He loved teaching and inspired students during his speeches in educational institutions. He always believed and encouraged students to have great aims, continuously acquire knowledge, work hard, persevere and succeed. He was a patron of music and social service. He was truly a people’s President. He valued people for their internal beauty, spent every moment of his life giving it to society through science, his presidency and as a human being. 

He was a leader in many projects and he knew the meaning of leadership. Any form of failure was only a stepping stone and learning for him. He truly inspired millions before he expired from the material world and he is alive in the form of all his good deeds, lessons he taught and the trees planted on his behalf by Vivekanandan(Vivek, famous comedian in Tamil movies). 

To sum up, Dr Kalam's life and his personality were all about positivity, happiness, learning, working, success, humanity, simplicity and humility. All his sayings are definitions of his life. Sir once said “If you are born with fame, it is an accident. If you die with fame, it is an achievement.” Dr Kalam is an achiever. This is the reason why his whole life is an inspiration to everyone. 

My respect to Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.