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The book, ‘My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions’ is the life story of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, India’s famous scientist and former President. Written with a powerful narrative style laden with significant experiences, Dr. Kalam has filled this book with the details that matter. This inspirational book has been published by Rupa Publications India in the year 2013. The book reveals the famous story of how a simple child from Rameshwaram became the President of the world’s largest democracy. It is an extraordinary tale of India’s most celebrated scientist who along with his research found time for his fellow people and worked hard towards their development. In this book, Dr. Kalam sheds light on several personal aspects like the people who he was very close to and their influence on him. He also speaks in detail about the life and the atmosphere at Rameshwaram. He talks about his upbringing and family as well and the various pangs and toils he had to go through. A large part of this book deals with Dr.Kalam’s work in India’s space program. He talks about the difficulties they had to face while developing India’s first space vehicle. Written in a candid manner, you can now go through the nitty-gritty details of the life of Dr. Kalam as told by the former President himself. About the Author A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is one of the most famous and respected names in India. A visionary scientist, honest politician and a true Indian, Dr. Kalam stood for the best of human values. He served as the President of India from 2002 to 2007 and is often regarded as the ‘Missile man of India’, having acted as a catalyst towards the substantial growth of India’s space program. In 1954, he completed his graduation in Physics from Saint Joseph’s college, Tiruchirappalli which was then associated with the University of Madras. He then went on to study Aerospace Engineering from the highly reputed Madras Institute of Technology. Overall, he has received honorary doctorates from over 40 universities. He won the Von Braun Award from the National Space Society and Hoover Medal from ASME Foundation, USA. Government of India conferred him Bharat Ratna in 1997. Some of his famous books are Advantage India: From Challenge to Opportunity, Wings of Fire and Envisioning an Empowered Nation. The book, ‘My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions’ is full of inspiration and reveals the life of Dr, Kalam. This book is easily available online for convenient shopping. You can bag this book from A today by following a few easy steps.

From the Publisher

Conversation with A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

My Journey recounts certain unique experiences of my life from my childhood until now, when I am over eighty years old. In all these years and through all these experiences, the most important lesson I have learnt is, one must keep dreaming at various phases of life, and then work hard to realize those dreams. If we do so, then success is imminent. To the many people I meet I always say, ‘Dreams are not those that we see in our sleep; they should be the ones that never let us sleep.’

The idea for this book came to me one day while I was walking in my garden. Like every other time, I stood under the grand Arjuna tree which is nearly a hundred years old in age, and I looked up into its branches to see if any new nests had been built by birds or if a fresh beehive had appeared. And something in that moment, as I gazed up at this tree, in this city of Delhi, reminded me intensely of my father.

He, too, was an early riser whose first few hours of the day would be spent with nature, examining his coconut trees, walking the roads of the town we lived in. I recalled with a smile and a feeling of happiness my childhood, the people who inhabited it, the hands I held while I traversed it.

I then also began to think of the journey that my life has been—the unusual paths I have travelled, the things I have seen, the events I have been a part of. And I began to wonder if these memories and experiences should stay with me or if I must share them with my numerous readers and family members whose numbers have grown as large as the abundant roots of an enormous banyan tree—its great-great-grandchildren!

I have written a few books till date, and in some of them I have described my childhood experiences. When I wrote my first book about my life, I had wondered how it would interest anyone.

Unlike in my previous books, My Journey focuses more on the smaller, lesser-known happenings in my life. The incidents around my mother and father were written because even now, at the age of eighty-two, I still cherish the values and ethics that they lovingly inculcated in me. The qualities they instilled in me, and which I learnt from observing them and by understanding their reactions to the adversities they faced, have helped me live better, and through these values my parents still live strongly within me. When my father talked about the importance of understanding people’s minds, or faced difficulties stoically, I remembered his words years later when I was battling various odds myself. In my mother’s tender touch and sensitive upbringing of her children I found a world of love and kindness.

I also felt compelled to record in detail the contributions of my sister Zohra and her generosity; the openness of the outlook of my first mentor Ahmed Jalalluddin that first encouraged me to think of studying further.

Instances such as my failure to qualify for the Indian Air Force and the other adversities I have been witness to, have all brought home to me the necessity of setbacks in one’s life. Yes, they seem insurmountable at the time, but there really is no difficulty one cannot overcome if there is determination in the heart.

Recently, I was talking to my friend Professor Arun Tiwari, when he suddenly asked me an unusual question, ‘Kalam saheb, can you sum up your life so far, in one sentence?’

It made me think for a while. Eventually I said, ‘Arun, my life can be summed up in these phrases and words: love poured to the child…struggle…more struggle…bitter tears…then sweet tears…and finally a life as beautiful and fulfilling as seeing the birth of the full moon.’

I hope these stories will help all my readers understand their dreams and compel them to work on those dreams that keep them awake.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Pick up this wonderful book to know these quaint stories of APJ Abdul Kalam’s life.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 8129124912
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rupa Publications India; 1st edition (27 August 2013); Rupa and Co
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9788129124913
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8129124913
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 136 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 1.02 x 19.81 cm
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India
Net Quantity ‏ : ‎ 1.00 Count
Generic Name ‏ : ‎ Books
Best Sellers Rank: #1,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #6 in Asian History (Books) #26 in Politics #32 in Biographies & Autobiographies (Books)
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