Why many hearts still beat for APJ Abdul Kalam

Sometime in the mid-2000s, the then president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was to inaugurate an international conference on non-invasive cardiac treatment in Mumbai. The ballroom in the Taj Mahal hotel was packed with doctors from across the globe, waiting in anticipation of the president's arrival. Many foreign doctors would have seen the president's participation in the conference as yet another instance of political intervention. Or else, what new message can a country's president give an audience of top-notch doctors? That too, when they were there to brainstorm ways to cure heart patients without the customary surgical process?

Then came an announcement: The president, who is recovering from a fall and a fracture on his hand, is unable to make it, but will address the audience over video-conferencing from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. I was part of a small bunch of media persons around, and felt disappointed. I was there to meet Dr Kalam in flesh and blood for the first time, but that was not to happen. The audience were asked to take their seats, following which the attention shifted to the two large screens on both sides of the dais. Officials in his office could be seen checking the arrangements, and then, exactly at 11am, Dr Kalam walked into the camera. He seemed totally at ease and technology savvy, as he faced the camera and waved a hand at the audience and made them comfortable. The other hand could be seen in a sling. After the introductory remarks in which he apologised for his not being able to make it to Mumbai, he pointed to someone somewhere in the middle of the audience and said: "Sir, there is no need to take notes of what I would be saying; it will be put up on the website of the President of India, in exactly an hour." Remember, this was a decade ago, and technologies such as video conferencing and uploading a presentation on the website were still new to many Indians. Least of all, none would have expected a government representative to have his speech uploaded immediately after he delivers it! Most interestingly, the presentation was about how nanotechnology could be used to cure heart diseases. Foreigners in the audience were left wondering whether they were about to listen to a president or a top-notch scientist. Many of us, however, knew he was both.

It was then that Dr Kalam went on to talk about a less well-known aspect of his remarkable career as a scientist - his quest to apply defence technologies to cure diseases. In 1998, during his stint as secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) he, along with Hyderabad-based cardiologist Dr Soma Raju, developed a low-cost coronary stent, later known as the "Kalam-Raju" stent. In just three years, 511 implants of the Kalam-Raju stents were successfully performed on cardiac patients at Care Hospitals, a pan India hospital chain and part of Dr Raju's Care Foundation. The stents cost just half of the imported stents at that time. Dr Kalam described his mission, and then proceeded to talk about nanotechnology and its advantages. The presentation ended with a loud, standing ovation. During the question and answer session, Dr Kalam's impact on the audience was once again revealed. A doctor from Europe was at a loss for words to describe how he felt hearing a country's president speak so much in depth about technology. "Sir, you should have been a scientist, and not the president," he said, "I wish European countries had presidents like you and not political figures." Dr Kalam dismissed the praise with a broad smile.

The message was clear. Not many presidents in the world could achieve a stature that Dr Kalam did, both during his stint from 2002 to 2007, and thereafter, when he hopped around remote corners of the country meeting students, academicians and professionals, and delivering the message of hard work, integrity and hope for a better tomorrow - that too, till his final breath. Adieu, Dr Kalam.