The Wonderful World of Books

by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

See the books that made APJ Abdul Kalam

Genres: Nonfiction

11 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2016

About the author

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல் கலாம்) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was one of India's most distinguished scientists. He was an Aerospace engineer, professor, and chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.

Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). He was responsible for the development of India's first satellite launch vehicle,the SLV-3 He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile and space rocket technology. Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

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).

Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who became popular as ‘People’s President’, passed away on July 27th, 2015 at the age of 83 in Shillong, India.

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 5 out of 5]

APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India, an aerospace scientist, a key man who helped in India's first nuclear test, and a person who designed India's multiple world-class missiles and rockets. But apart from all these achievements, what he liked the most was teaching the younger generation about the values of life to make them ready to become great future citizens. His closest friends, apart from children, were always books. He talks about the importance of reading in this book.

What I learned from this book
1) Why are books so important in a human being's life?
Kalam tells us the importance of reading and how books can change the character and personality of an individual. He also tells us all the advantages of reading. He says that without books, he wouldn't have achieved anything in his life.

"I understood that to know and love reading meant the freedom to travel to any kind of world I wanted to."

2) How did Kalam inspire others?
I know many people and children from various spheres of life who are inspired by Kalam's speeches and books. I initially wondered in what all ways Kalam inspired his colleagues and juniors at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, where he spent a significant part of his career.

I am lucky enough to have a lot of friends of all ages who work in VSSC. Some of them had the experience of working directly under Kalam. They shared a lot of personal information with me regarding how Kalam inspired them to work in the most efficient way.

Kalam's writings in his books taught me how to explore and find some important rare books from the second-hand book store. Everybody who reads Kalam's books will know how vital the second-hand bookshops in Madras Moore Market played in Kalam's life. From this inspiration, I developed a hobby of visiting bookstores (especially second-hand book stores) in all the cities I lived.

I prefer to visit the second bookstores in the evening on Saturdays or Sundays when very few people will be there to explore all the books. Through this habit, I discovered some extremely rare books from various countries that are out of print which I haven't seen in any bookstores, book exhibitions, literary festivals, and e-commerce sites around the world.

“However, I discovered a tiny bookshop at Moore Market In Madras ( now Chennai) whose owner was happy to lend me books for a small deposit.”

3) Which was Kalam's favorite book?
Kalam had many favorite books in his life. He told the important role some books, like Bhagavad Gita, played in his life. He tells us his favorite book here.

"One work that has been almost like a code for living for me is the Thirukural."

4) Which are all the books that helped in shaping the leadership qualities in Kalam?
He recommends to us all his favorite books that helped him become a great human being here. This is a unique blend of books coming from all cultures and religions. He was a true scholar who loved to know about all religions and imbibe the wisdom shared through the religious texts.

“A list of some of my (Kalam's) favourite books

Light from Many Lamps,
Man the Unknown,
Thirukural,
Code Name God,
Everyday Greatness,
The Holy Koran,
Bhagavad Gita,
Holy Bible,
Gitanjali,
Paradise Lost,
The Prophet”

5) How can we keep our reading habit alive?
Kalam mentions the ways by which we can keep our reading habits alive. He is sharing some valuable tips that will be helpful to young readers.

“A) Build home libraries. Gather books in ones and twos and slowly build up a collection. Keep this library as a gift for future generations, filling it with beautiful, meaningful books.

B)Read with your parents or friends. Sometimes reading with each other gives you the enthusiasm to keep on reading.

C) Visit bookstores and libraries when you go to any new place. Sometimes you may find more information hidden away there than you expected."

My favourite three lines from this book

“Does Science negate spirituality? How can we keep our beliefs while delving into matters that require theorems and proofs to establish their existence.”

“By now my mind was getting ever more thirsty and I needed to know many answers.”

“There has been hardly any moment of conflict or despair in my life that the Thirukural has not helped to resolve.”

What could have been better?
The only negative I can say about this book is that I finished reading it quickly. A book lover will never want this book to end.

Rating
5/5 I was surprised to find out that only a couple of my friends have read this book until now, and most of my friends don't even know about it. This book might be small in size, but the amount of wisdom the author shares in it is vast. So I request you to consider my recommendation and don't miss the opportunity to read it as I think that this is a unique book that a book lover or a fan of Abdul Kalam should never miss.

[Praveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read

Good suggestion from a great human being. Thank you sir. Hope everyone follow your suggestion to achieve your vision ahead.

[Abubakar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insight about reading from his decades of reading life 😍

[Vinay Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review at A Bookworm's Musing: HERE

The book is a very short read available as an eBook. It can be read in ten minutes at most, and shares APJ Abdul Kalam's journey through books/reading. I could relate to parts of that journey, and enjoyed that ten minute read. It made me wish the book was longer, and more about his journey known.

[Sudhir Pai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the way he spoke in life, APJ Abdul Kalam adopts an avuncular style of narration in this little essay to appeal to a younger generation who are losing touch with reading. He goes on to elaborate how the works on Milton, Thoreau, speeches of Lincoln and even books on religion would shape his thinking in all his future pursuits, as India's chief missile man and much-loved President. It's a really short read. Almost feels like a charming bookmark that will delight you between chapters of your bedtime read.

[Pulkit Velani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good article

It's article written by Dr Abdul Kalam on importance of book reading. He has shared his journey of reading book, his journey as author to his recommend books to reader.

[R R KUMAR · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short read. It emphasizes the importance and joy of reading.

A wonderful short read. It emphasizes the importance and joy of reading. It ends with a good advice to the people on how to promote and enjoy reading.

[Lsharathkumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

Beautiful book on the importance of reading and about the benefits of readinfthat have helped De.Kalam achieve stupendous success and greatness. In the words of India's scientist and saint

[Sia · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s just amazing the way Kalam sir has explained his journey of his reading habit. Simple words are so impactful that it wants me to embrace my reading habit more. Lastly he has also recommended some of his personal favorites.

[Meenu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book

Inspirational book to increase the habit of reading books.. . . . . . . . . . . .

[Sanket · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book.

Wonderful book ,Made my day. Kalam sir still teaching us and giving recommend to everyone who want to dive deeply into the world of books.

[Kumar Raghvendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

It inspires a lot to delve into the world of the books. A small, but crisp, beautiful & powerful read.

[Pravin Satardekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Dr Kalam for the inspiration!

Very inspirational to preserve and grow the habit of reading.
Thank you Dr. Kalam for guiding us with your personal experiences.

[Rommell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soulful Words

Simple, short and soulful. His choice of favourite book list is great, would definitely take a lifetime to read and understand.

[Kuturu Sri Raghavendra Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Importance of reading habit

Even though Kalamji left us in body,he'll remain with us in spirit via his writings.,all of them meant for the betterment of humanity.In this book he throws light upon what he considers as one of the virtues to acheive human excellence: reading good books

[anusha dhawan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice 10 min read.