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Anish Sudini

Mrs. Iannucci

Patterns of Human Experience7

16 March 2017

The Spiritual Scientist that Revolutionized India

Throughout history, there have been many prestigious scientists; scientists who changed

the face of science itself with their discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Individuals like

Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Steven Hawking, and others of similar reputations. However,

none of these individuals are likely to be at such an extraordinary level of spirituality and

compassion towards his people as Abdul Kalam. 1During his childhood Abdul Kalam was like a

baby but he eventually taught himself to fly. He grew up in an extremely rural village in India

that struggled to find its place in the rapidly revolutionizing world, he has climbed to tremendous

heights of success. Growing up in a developing country is anything but easy, many other citizens

like Abdul Kalam lived in poverty, with little resources, lacking a proper education, and without

other basic necessities. To reach such a level as Abdul Kalam does not just require hard work, it

requires a number of other things like fortitude, discipline, and empathy toward fellow citizens to

be able to distinguish yourself from one billion other individuals. Abdul Kalam was able to

transcend the hindrances of his youth and used a combination of his brilliance and spirituality to

make profound contributions to his nation, which made him a commemorated hero.

When talking about Abdul Kalams early life it was actually the biggest obstacle he had

faced during his lifetime. He was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India to Muslim parents,

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Jaimulabudeen and Ashiamma. His parents were extremely poor, his father being a lowly boat

owner and his mother a simple house wife. From an early age of 6, he had to get a job which was

selling newspapers in order to support his fathers income. He obtained average grades in the

school in his village which was, uncomfortably small, poorly understaffed, and lacked funding to

maintain the needs of the school. However, he made the most of his education regardless of how

poor it was, and worked and achieved a scholarship and admission into the Madras Institute of

Technology. There he studied physics and aerospace engineering. An amusing yet inspirational

story about him was while studying for a senior class project during his engineering studies, his

dean, unsatisfied with the rate of the progress of the project, subjected him to a near impossible

deadline of three days to complete the project or forfeit his scholarship. Nevertheless, Kalam was

not intimidated by the severely shortened of time to finish the project and was able to meet this

deadline to the admiration of his dean.

After graduating college Abdul Kalam deeply desired to help his fellow citizens and keep

them safe, so he looked for a job that would benefit his nation. He had the dream of becoming a

fighter pilot, but he missed his chance very narrowly as he got 9th place and there were only 8

positions available. However, it didnt stop him from realizing that he could help his country in

other ways. His contributions were absolutely immense, only few others in the history had done

something so profound for India. He was became responsible for the development of Indias first

satellite launch vehicle, the SLV- 3, development and operation of strategic missiles, and

building indigenous capabilities in critical technologies. After seeing what he had accomplished

in his work the government appointed him as the chairman of Technology Information,

Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). He gladly accepted the position and guided a

number of technological projects and missions to take India into the 21st century. Although
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technological and defensive methods were not the only ways he helped his country. In 2002 he

was elected as the President of India. A huge position in the government was granted him the

power to help change his country for the better. He seized this opportunity and developed

something that benefited the disabled penniless. He saw that many children and adults were born

without arms or legs or lost them in an accident. He took this problem and plunged deep into it as

if he was swimming to the bottom of the ocean, pouring his entire heart out do develop a light-

weight prosthetic. 2After spending billions and billions of Rupees researching, developing, and

manufacturing the product he immediately distributed them to the public that was deeply in need

of them. Abdul Kalam started and completed this project not to make money but to improve the

quality of life for his fellow citizens. The last thing that Abdul Kalam cared about when helping

people was the cost, he completely disregards how much money it would take and would just

focus on how many people he could make happy. He wants to see the smile of their face's

because that is the thing that truly kept him sane throughout his lengthy life.

Simile - a simile comparing Abdul Kalam to a baby bird. I used this because he grew

up in an undeveloped village but worked and got to the stage he once was. A baby
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bird teaches itself to fly as Abdul Kalam had taught himself fly or achieve that

level of success.

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Hyperbole exaggerated the amount of money used to solve the crisis at hand to

emphasize the fact the he does not care about the money, only about the affect it

will have on the people and if it would make them happy or not.