Former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s dream to see smiles on billion faces kept him motivated throughout his life.
“For the last one decade when I became President and after it, I had one dream and that was when can I in my lifetime see smile on a billion faces,” he told a boy who asked him what kept him motivated all the time.
“Smile on faces drives me (to do things in life),” he said.
When another student pursuing his studies in class tenth stood up to ask him a question, Kalam asked him which subjects he was interested to take after class tenth.
When he said that he will study science, Kalam recalled that when he was a ten-year-old boy he noted the way how his teacher taught him.
“After observing my teacher teaching me how birds fly…I aimed something to fly…Then I pursued my studies in Physics and aerospace,” he said.
Kalam, now 82, worked as an Aerospace engineer with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) before he became the President in 2002.
Popularly known as the Missile Man, he had played a pivotal role in Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honour.