1. THE WEEK
  2. The Week
  3. The final flight

Cover Story

The final flight

  • A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — 1931-2015
  • The final flight
    The final flight: President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the body of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the Palam Airforce Station in Delhi | PTI
  • A blast to remember
    A blast to remember: (From left) Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Kalam, who was then head of DRDO, in Pokhran after the nuclear tests of 1998 | Reuters
  • Fighter spirit
    Fighter spirit: In 2006, Kalam (then 74) created history as the oldest Indian co-pilot of a fighter jet. The "missile man of India" made a 30-minute flight over Pune in a Sukhoi 30 MKI.
  • children at a school in Chennai weep as the flame of a generation has gone out | PTI
  • Kalam with Nelson Mandela, whom he admired for his "indomitable spirirt", during his 2004 South Africa tour | PTI
  • Kalam offering namaz at Shahi Masjid Fatehpuri in Delhi's Chandni Chowk. Though a staunch Muslim, Kalam was an epitome of secularism | PTI
  • Man for all reasons
    Man for all reasons: Kalam sharing a lighter moment with the Dalai Lama | PTI
  • As students of an engineering college in Jalandhar, Punjab, welcomed him, Kalam left behind protocol and swayed to their rhythm | PTI
  • The avid music lover is all ears as Carnatic music maestro M. Balamuralikrishna speaks at a function in Kerala | P.R. Devadas
  • Goodnight, sweet dreamer!
    Goodnight, sweet dreamer!: A sense of vacuum is palpable at Schwartz Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district near Kalam's hometown, Rameswaram. This is where it all began | PTI

  • "Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work" - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in an obscure place in an underprivileged social setting may find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from the bondage of their illusory backwardness and hopelessness.

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Topics : #A President like no other | #Abdul Kalam

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