A. P. J. Abdul Kalam - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 in an Islam family to Jainulabdeen, a boat owner and Ashiamma, a housewife, at Rameswaram, located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income. He was brought up in a multi-religious environment but did follow a religious routine. After completing school, Kalam distributed newspapers in order to financially contribute to his father's income. In his school years, he had average grades, but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics.

"I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness as did my three brothers and sisters." —A quote from Kalam's autobiography

After completing his school education at the Rameshwaram Elementary School, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli, then affiliated with the University of Madras, from where he graduated in physics in 1954. Towards the end of the course, he was not enthusiastic about the subject and would later regret the four years he studied it. He then moved to Madras in 1955 to study aerospace engineering. While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress and threatened revoking his scholarship unless the project was finished within the next two days. He worked tirelessly on his project and met the deadline, impressing the Dean who later said, "I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline".