research findings on the book "wings of fire" by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam
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Wings of Fire is an autography of APJ Abdul Kalam covering his early life and his work in Indian space research and missile programs. It is the story of a boy from a humble background who went on to become a key player in Indian space research/Indian missile programs and later became the president of India. It was very engaging initially, but tended to drag a bit towards the end with lot of technical details and procedural information of his space research and missile projects.
I loved the initial chapters of "Wings of Fire" since it gives a vivid picture of our country during 1930-1950s. Kalam was born in Rameswaram, a southern religious town in Tamilnadu. The initial chapters provides an interesting glimpse of religious harmony which existed before India’s partition, the famous Shiva temple, which made Rameswaram so sacred to pilgrims, was about a ten minute walk from their house. Their locality was predominantly Muslim, but there were quite a few Hindu families too, living amicably with their Muslim neighbours.
There are instances in the where a teacher spreading social inequality is punished and force to leave the institution (school).
Kalam in younger years wanted to be an officer in air force, however he couldn't clear the interview. He met Swami Sivananda after this failure and I found his words to Kalam interesting and in a way prophetic,
"Accept your destiny and go ahead with your life. You are not destined to become an Air Force pilot. What you are destined to become is not revealed now but it is predetermined. Forget this failure, as it was essential to lead you to your destined path. Search, instead, for the true purpose of your existence. Become one with yourself, my son! Surrender yourself to the wish of God."
In the book we learn how Kalam started his career in Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) and was involved in the design of a hovercraft. Later he moved to Indian Space Research which was the brain child of Vikram Sarabhai. In 1963, Kalam went to NASA facility in Maryland(USA) as part of a training program on sounding rocket launching techniques. There he came across a painting which depicted Tipu Sultan's rocket warfare against the British.
The book covers a lot of "behind the scene" information and technical details about India's satellite and missile program (SLV-3, Prithvi, Agni, Thrisul, Akash and Nag). This might interest technically inclined readers but is sure to put off readers who bought the book to get to know Kalam or to know his principles/ideas. Space and missile programs are huge complex projects and managing them is extremely challenging. The book does give a glimpse of the participatory management technique adopted by Kalam, but at the same time it doesn't go into details.
Wings of fire covers Kalam's personal life only briefly which is strange for an autobiography. For example, we don't know why he decided to remain single or his activities outside space research (even though we can conclude in the end that he was married to science and technology).
Kalam is a poet and is a huge fan of poems. The book contains many of his own poems and his favorite poems. Here is an example,
Do not look at Agni
as an entity directed upward
to deter the ominous
or exhibit your might.
It is fire in the heart of an Indian.
Do not even give it
the form of a missile
as it clings to the
burning pride of this nation
and thus is bright.
Through Wings of Fire, we come across some brilliant people who worked behind Indian space research such as Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Brahm Prakash. The book also contains about 24 photos and I found the ones from the early days of Indian space program very interesting. This alone is worth the price of the book!
One of the things that stands out throughout the book is Kalam’s positive thinking. He held many high ranking positions in various organizations. Yet in the book he rarely mentions anything about lethargy/corruption of bureaucracy or politicians. The secret to his success seems to be his ability to ignore negative things around him. The book also gives a clue to his popularity in India. Kalam is a simple, secular, inspiring humanitarian.
My Rating: 7.5/10. I liked the initial chapters, but wasn’t much impressed by later chapters. Kalam should look for a better writer to write his updated autobiography