Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

thehindu.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 81 posts

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#71

Post by kartikkumar »

ninja_to_be wrote: post #67
ubersync wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The 27th of July should be a national day of recognition for his genius. Slightly off-topic, but there are already too many "national holidays" in India. Added with the "state holidays", there are barely any workdays left.

He mentioned recognizing it as a national day and not necessarily a 'holiday'. There are numerous days when students pay their respect to a great personality and continue with their regular activities. This could be one such day. Moreover I read somewhere that Dr. Kalam himself wanted people to work harder on his death day and not take a holiday. Not sure if that is misattributed to him, but I'm sure his thoughts wou…

Exactly. That's why I worded it the way that I did. I am aware of Dr. Kalam's quote, requesting that there be no holiday in his recognition, but rather an extra day of work. So my point is absolutely as you put it, to pay respects to a genius.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#72

Post by nmridul »

newyankee wrote: post #59
jacquesm wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your comment says nothing about Dr. AK Actually, it does. It ranks him favorably relative to others that held the same post.

There is no doubt that S Radhakrishnan and APJ Abdul Kalam were two greatest Presidents India had who made the most impact out of a ceremonial post (and not in a political way).

Dont forget KR Narayanan who refused to sign if proper procedures were not followed showing that President is not just a rubber stamp.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#73

Post by newyankee »

perfectstorm wrote: post #63
newyankee wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He very well wanted to run for the second term if he was elected unopposed. Go and read some news articles of the time period when the Presidential election happened.

"When a schoolgirl asked Dr Kalam why he did not accept President's post again despite demands from several quarters, he said: "You know you are simply a fantastic girl. Before becoming President, I was involved in teaching. I worked in the political system for five years. The job is over. Now I have come back to teaching and research." http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/27slide2.htm During the Q&A, a girl stoo…

Yeah, he was going to explain a 10 year old girl the behind the scenes politics needed to get elected. This incident instead shows he was a great human being and he did not care whether he was elected again. It does not in any way explain what happened in the Presidential election.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#74

Post by Juneau »

"Hard work, perseverance and kindness are the qualities that define a human being" that's the lesson I learned from his autobiography "wings of fire", this was way back in high school. He was an inspiration for me during my formative years.

RIP Sir.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#75

Post by dang »

Juneau wrote: post #69
dang wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wikipedia isn't a great source to use for a breaking news story. But if you or anyone would suggest a more substantive URL, we can change to that.

Try this one.. Its from a reputed Indian newspaper.. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/apj-abdul-kalam-dies/a... * updated the link..

Ok, url changed to that from http://www.theindiantalks.com/breaking/former-president-apj-.... Thanks.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#76

Post by perfectstorm »

newyankee wrote: post #73
perfectstorm wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When a schoolgirl asked Dr Kalam why he did not accept President's post again despite demands from several quarters, he said: "You know you are simply a fantastic girl. Before becoming President, I was involved in teaching. I worked in the political system for five years. The job is over. Now I have come back to teaching and research." http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/sep/27slide2.htm During the Q&A, a girl stoo…

Yeah, he was going to explain a 10 year old girl the behind the scenes politics needed to get elected. This incident instead shows he was a great human being and he did not care whether he was elected again. It does not in any way explain what happened in the Presidential election.

well you've any credible reports that suggest otherwise ?

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#77

Post by sigmaml »

I met him once at a conference in Bengaluru. He was President then.

When it was his turn to speak, he said: ``My staff has written a wonderful script for me to read aloud. You can read it on my Website tomorrow. But now, I shall talk about good R&D, or the lack of it, in India." And he went on to deliver a very inspiring speech.

Great man!

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#78

Post by gamekathu »

I was fortunate enough to witness his speech live when he came to our school in 2007. It was held in our school grounds, which was full with about a 1000 people, with students, teachers & parents, all listening to his speech with rapt attention. During the Q&A session a young boy stood up and asked him, "Why does all the politicians are so old?" After a general murmur of laughter, he asked, "Well students, let me ask you what you want to be in your life?"..Lots of hands shot up, shouts of "Engineer", "Doctor", "Scientist" echoed through the ground. After the clamor died down, he simply said : "See, that is why. I see many engineers, scientists, doctors among you. But none of you want to be a politician. Which is good, as the nation needs its youth to carry them forward, while we old people manage the politics of this country." - Such simple & humble answer from a great man. He did a lot for this country, and more over, he inspired many generations to follow their dreams. He will continue to live in our minds as the perfect role model of modern India.

Re: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, nuclear scientist and former president of India, has died

#80

Post by newyankee »

perfectstorm wrote: post #76
newyankee wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, he was going to explain a 10 year old girl the behind the scenes politics needed to get elected. This incident instead shows he was a great human being and he did not care whether he was elected again. It does not in any way explain what happened in the Presidential election.

well you've any credible reports that suggest otherwise ?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/kalam-surprises-third...

By the way my beef is with the fact that Kalam was undoubtedly the best choice to be the president for a second term. However as i mentioned above Sonia Gandhi (and the Congress) did not even consider his past record and instead nominated their own candidate who can never hold a candle to someone of the stature of Kalam. My objection is to the fact that you are claiming that 2007 presidential election were not political when in fact they were as political as anything in India gets. This is notable because Kalam had proven himself beyond any doubt.

Post reply on HN