Dr. Abdul Kalam's Introduction:

President of India: Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the current President of India, was born on 15th October, 1931, into a middle-class Tamil family, in the town of Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu (India). His father was Jainulabdeen and mother Ashiamma. He had a sister named Zohara and three brothers. His brother-in-law was Ahmed Jallaluddin.

Some of the important people who have inspired and supported him in his young age were

• Father: honesty and self–discipline

• Mother: faith in goodness and deep kindness

• Shri. Ahmed Jallaluddin – relative: always encouraged him to excel in his studies and enjoyed his success vicariously. It was he who made him aware of a “brave, new world” beyond their narrow confines

• Shri. STR Manickam - former “revolutionary” or militant nationalist: encouraged him to read; lent books from his personal library

• Shri. Samsuddin – first cousin: helped him earn his first wages by giving him the job of assisting him in catching newspaper bundles which were thrown from a moving train on the Rameswaram Road

• Shri. Sivasubramania Iyer, Shri. Iyadurai Solomon, Rev. Father T. N. Sequeira, Prof. Thothathri Iyengar, Prof. Suryanarayana Sastry, Prof. Sponder, Prof. K. A. V. Pandalai and Prof. Narasingha Rao - teachers