Why Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was Darling of Youths?

Introduction

If anybody is asked about an inspiring leader nowadays, he or she promptly speak out the name of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. This is the reason why people of this country have fondly called him as the “People’s President”. Till his death, he was able to keep his popularity high through his unrelenting tours to meet the youths of the country. They seem to say “RIP Abdul Kalam”. Here, RIP does not stand for “Rest in Peace”, instead it stands for “Return If Possible”, indicating they wanted him to immediately come back to guide them to growth and prosperity.

Reason for His Popularity

No matter the age of the audience was Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was able to connect with them instantly. He could go to the any level to take their confidence before embarking on teaching them. This is how he even impressed the students in the primary school. His simplicity and unsophisticated approach helped him to endear with the audience. Moreover, he could talk on any subject extempore and impress the audience. This is the most striking quality of a teacher. No wonder, he loved teaching to the hilt. Once interacting with the students, a question was posed on him about his wish in his next birth. He told the students that he wanted to become a Primary School Teacher. Such was his down-to-earth approach and pleasing personality. Once during an interaction in a school, a Class 5 student had asked him about his hairstyle. He promptly shot back a counter question in a pleasing way: “Does it not suit me?” The instant responses like this made him quite popular among the members of the student community across the country.

Youth Icon

Dr Abdul Kalam was a darling with the young ones. He always walked into educational institutions receiving loud applause and cheers from the student community. This was testified by a correspondent of the Sree Niketan Group of Schools, Vishnucharan. He recalled a recent program where participants were asked to select from several famous personalities like MS Dhoni, Shiva Mani, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambir, etc. Most of the participants chose Dr Abdul Kalam for his simplicity and easy approachability. This fact showed that till his death, Dr Abdul Kalam was the rock star with the younger audience. Another incident also showed the same thing. During a recent visit to Sastra University in Thanjavur in April 2015, the former President of India spent hours on the campus interacting with the students about their research. One PhD scholar Janani Radhakrishnan from the nanotechnology lab in the University told that he spent hours in different labs till late night. During those visits, he also gave suggestions after going through their works. To the students, he looked like a man of infinite abilities.