The document summarizes the autobiography "Wings of Fire" by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It describes Kalam's upbringing in a middle-class family in India and his career achievements, which included helping develop key technologies for India's space and missile programs. The autobiography chronicles Kalam's role in helping establish India as a leader in technology and his influence as a leader who embodied integrity, humility, spirituality and perseverance.

2. 
WINGS OF FIRE
An Autobiography
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
with Arun Tiwari
Book Review by Meenakshi Nandula

3. 
 Publisher: University Press (India)
 Year of Publication: 1999
 English, also translated into more than 15 languages
 Genre: Autobiography
 A bestseller; more than a million copies sold
 180 pages
 4 Chapters: Orientation, Creation, Propitiation,
Contemplation
 Chronicles India’s journey to self-reliance in
technology
WINGS OF FIRE

4. 
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
Missile Man of India
People’s President
15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015
(Rameswaram, TN) (Shillong, ML)

5. 
Co-Author: Arun K Tiwari
 A former missile scientist who
worked under Dr. Kalam
 Currently he is the Secretary of
Care Foundation and the
Platinum Jubilee Mentor of
CSIR - IICT.

6. 
 On 11 and 13 May 1998, the Indian Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) conducted five nuclear
tests, dubbed "Pokhran-II" under the codename
Shakti.
 Introduction: “This book is being released at a time when
India’s technological endeavours…are questioned by many
in the world.”
 “Can India be a leader in the field of technology? My
answer is an emphatic ‘Yes’. “
Introduction

8. 
 First Paragraph: “I was born into a middle-class
Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in
the erstwhile Madras state. My father Jainulabdeen
had neither much formal education nor much
wealth: despite these disadvantages, he possessed
great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit.
He had an ideal helpmate in my mother Ashiamma.
I do not recall the exact number of people she fed
everyday, but I am quite certain that far more
outsiders ate with us than all the members of our
own family put together.”

10. 
“Each individual creature on this beautiful planet is
created by God to fulfil a particular role…All these
rockets and missiles are His work through a small
person called Kalam, in order to tell…to never feel
small or helpless.”
“We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts
should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world
with the glow of its goodness.”
― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire

11. 
Early Influences
 Parents
 Siblings
 Friends
 Family Friends
 Teachers
 Religious discourse
 Books on Literature
 Physics
 Astrology
 Aerodynamics

12. 
Orientation
(1931-1963)
School & College (B.Sc., B.E.),
HAL Trainee, DRDO, Rocket Engineer
at INCOSPAR
(Indian Committee for Space Research)

13. 
Creation
(1963-1980)
NASA Training, SLV, PSLV, ISRO,
Prof. Vikram Sarabhai
Prof. Satish Dhawan
Prof. Brahm Prakash
Padma Bhushan,

14. 
Propitiation
(1981-1991)
Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag, Trishul,
Indira Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi

15. 
Contemplation
(1991- )
Padma Vibhushan

16. 

17. 
 If someone asks me about my personal achievements
in Indian rocketry, I would pin it down to having
created an environment for teams of young people to
put their hearts and souls into their missions.
 My story…is the story of a scientist tested by
setbacks and failures; the story of a leader supported
by a large team of brilliant and dedicated
professionals
I am not a philosopher, I am only a man of
technology. I spent all my life learning rocketry.

18. 
An Eternal Leader
 Integrity
 Humility
 Simplicity
 Patriotism
 Spirituality
 Perseverance
 Positive thinking
 Respect for all faiths
 Learning from failure
 Passion towards work

19. 
 A proud and practising Muslim, daily namāz and fasting
during Ramadan were integral to Kalam's life.
 Every evening, Kalam’s father, an imam, and his close
friends, the head priest of the Ramanathaswamy Hindu
temple, and a church priest used to sit with hot tea and
discuss the issues concerning the island.
 Kalam believed in "respect for other faiths“ and he was
fond of saying: "For great men, religion is a way of
making friends; small people make religion a fighting
tool."
A Religious Scientist

20. 
In addition to his faith in the Koran and Islamic
practice, Kalam was:
 Well-versed in Hindu traditions
 Learnt Sanskrit, read the Bhagavad Gita
 He was a vegetarian and a teetotaller
 Enjoyed writing Tamil poetry
 Played the veena
 Listened to Carnatic devotional music every day
Multi-faceted

21. 
“I have no inheritance in the worldly sense…I have
acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing, no
family, sons, daughters.”

22. 
October 15

24. 
 Abdul, Kalam A. P. J, and Arun Tiwari. Wings of
Fire: An Autobiography. , 1999. Print.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_of_Fire
 https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/amul-
advertorial-tribute-to-abdul-kalam-53156.html
 https://www.patrika.com/special-news/didn-t-
keep-tv-at-home-kalam-used-to-sleep-for-4-and-half-
hours-1075261/
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