Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges

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It was like any other day on the Anna University campus in Chennai. I had delivered a lecture Vision to Mission and the session got extended from one hour to two. I had lunch with a group of research students and went back to class. As I was returning to my rooms in the evening the vice- chancellor, Prof. A. Kalanidhi, fell in step with me. Someone had been frantically trying to get in touch with me through the day, he said.

Indeed, the phone was ringing when I entered the room. When I answered, a voice at the other end said, The prime minister wants to talk with you … Some months earlier, I had left my post as principal scientific adviser to the government of India, a Cabinet-level post, to return to teaching. Now, as I spoke to the PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, my life was set for an unexpected change.

Turning Points takes up the incredible Kalam story from where Wings of Fire left off. It brings together details from his career and presidency that are not generally known as he speaks out for the first time on certain points of controversy. It offers insight not only into an extraordinary personality but also a vision of how a country with a great heritage can become great in accomplishment, skills and abilities through effort, perseverance and confidence. It is a continuing saga, above all, of a journey, individual and collective, that will take India to 2020 and beyond as a developed nation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, b. 15 October 1931, is one oc Indiaâ€™s most distinguished scientists. He was responsible for the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle, the SLV-3, development and operationalization of strategic missiles and their weaponization, and for building indigenous capability in critical technologies. As Chairman of the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), he guided a number of technology projects and missions to take India into the twenty-first century. The document on Technology Vision 2020 is a blueprint to make India a developed country. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam held various positions in ISRO and DRDO and became Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India holding the rank of a Cabinet Minister. He has the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from thirty universities and the country's three highest civilian honours - Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990) and Bharat Ratna (1997). He has done a short stint as Professor of Technology and Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai, when he was elected President of India in July 2002. He has met more than 4,00,000 children all over the country to share his vision of India.