“Wings of Fire” is the life story of Dr. Avul Pakir
Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India. A notable scientist and
an engineer, Dr. Kalam is often referred to as the Missile Man of India. He
played a key role in developing India’s first and indigenously made: ballistic
missiles, hovercraft, Nuclear-strike capable missiles and made immense
contribution to the Guided Missiles Development programme and
various ISRO projects.
Dr. Kalam was born at Rameswaram in Dhanushkodi, Tamil
Nadu, to a working class Tamil Muslim family. He received his degree in
aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1958.
He joined India’s Defense Research and Development
Organization (DR DO) upon graduation to work on a hovercraft project. In 1962,
Dr. Kalam moved to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where his
team successfully launched several satellites. He made a significant contribution
as Project Director to develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (SLV-III) which successfully placed the Rohini satellite into near
earth orbit in July 1980.
In 1982, Kalam returned to the DRDO as Director, focusing
on Indigenous guided missiles. He was responsible for the development and
operational success of the Agni and Prithvi missiles. This earned him the
sobriquet “India’s missile-man”. He also helped in the formulation of
healthcare products using technology developed for missiles.
In July 1992, Kalam became a Scientific Advisor to
India’s Defense Minister. As the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Indian
government, he held the rank of a Cabinet Minister. His work led to the
successful Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, which reiterated India’s position
as a nuclear weapon state. Kalam was also the Chairman, Ex-officio, of the
Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted the “India
Millennium Mission 2020″.
Kalam has the unique distinction of having received
honorary doctorates from at least thirty universities, as also India’s three
highest civilian honors: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; the Padma Vibhushan in
1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.
In this book, Dr. Kalam has described the various
projects he undertook and shows how a person can manage a large team of experts
without any formal knowledge in project management and team dynamics. He never
fails to acknowledge his co-workers, team members and others of importance,
throughout the book. The book is dotted with snippets of poetry and hymns that
Dr. Kalam is fond of and has collected over his life time.
Dr. Kalam is one of the few Indian scientists who had the
opportunity to work with Indian space research stalwarts like Dr. Vikram
Sarabhai and interact with pioneers of missile technology
like Wernher Von Braun. His works have put India on the nuclear map of the
world and made it a part of an elite club of nations.
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ALEN JOE ANTONY
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