On 27 July 2015, Kalam traveled to Shillong to give a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the Shillong Indian Institute of Management. At around 6:35 p.m. IST, just five minutes after his lecture, he collapsed. He was rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital in a critical condition; he had no pulse or any signs of life upon arrival. Despite being put in the intensive care unit. Kalam was reported dead from a sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45 p.m.
Born-Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
15 October 1931
Rameswaram, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India
Died-27 July 2015 (aged 83)
Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Nationality-Indian
Alma mater-St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli
Madras Institute of Technology
Profession-Professor
Author-Aerospace scientist
Religion-Islam
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was elected President of India in 2002 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. Upon completing a period of five years, he returned to his civilian life in teaching, writing and public service. He has won a variety of prestigious honors, including Bharat Ratna, India's highest civil honor.
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, to the Tamil Muslim family, on 15 October 1931. His father's name was Jainulabudeen, the owner of the boat, and his mother, Ashiamma, the housewife. His father owned a ferry that carried Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now-extinct Dhanushkodi. Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and a sister in his household. He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to increase his family's income. After finishing school, Kalam distributed newspapers to contribute to his father's profits. He had average grades in his school years but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn and spend hours on his studies, especially mathematics.
Upon completing his education at the Ramanathapuram Schwartz Matriculation Institute, Kalam went to St. Joseph 's College in Tiruchirappalli, then to the University of Madras, where he graduated in Physics in 1954. He was not excited about the topic at the end of the course, and would later regret the four years that he studied it. In 1955 he moved to Madras to study aerospace engineering at Madras Technology Institute. When Kalam was working on a senior-class project, the Dean was disappointed with his lack of success and threatened to revoke his scholarship if the project had not been completed within three days. Kalam met the deadline and inspired the Dean who later said to him, "I stressed you and asked you to meet a tough deadline." He narrowly missed his dream of being a fighter pilot as he finished ninth in qualifiers and there were only eight places at the IAF.