Today, 27th July, is the death anniversary of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (1931-2015), former President of India, whom I hold in the highest respect.

Dr Kalam’s life is a role model for all. His father had a boat business in his home town Rameshwaram in Tamilnadu which collapsed, leaving the family impoverished. Consequently Dr Kalam, as a child had to sell newspapers to supplement his family’s income.

Later, by dint of hard work and study he rose to great heights as a distinguished scientist, and was associated with India’s nuclear test at Pokhran. In 2002 he became the President of India, where he served till 2007.

As President he set the highest standards in public life. He always paid from his own pocket the travel, food and other expenses of his relatives and friends who came to stay with him in Rashtrapati Bhawan, since he said they were his private guests.

Whenever a name was recommended for appointment of a Supreme Court or High Court judge (who can only be appointed by a warrant issued by the President of India) he would get a secret enquiry made, and if something adverse was found against the person he would send the name back for reconsideration. Similarly, he sent some Bills passed by Parliament back for reconsideration as he thought them to be unconstitutional. This caused him to be unacceptable by the newly formed UPA government for a second term as President, as it obviously wanted a rubber stamp, something which Dr Kalam could never be.

Even after his term as President was over Dr Kalam continued teaching, which was his passion. He was Visiting Professor in several Universities and Institutes. He wanted India to come into the front ranks of the world in science, and become a highly developed nation.

Dr Kalam was a bachelor, a vegetarian, a scholar of Tamil poetry, and a lover of Carnatac music. Though a practising Muslim (he would daily say his namaz and kept the Ramazan fast) he was thoroughly secular. He attributed this to his father AP Jainulabdeen, who was the imam of the local mosque, who every evening in Rameshwaram would sit over a cup of hot tea with his friends, Pt Lakshman Shastry, the head priest of the Rameshwaram temple, and a Christian priest, to discuss issues concerning the island. In addition to knowing the Quran, Dr Kalam learnt Sanskrit, and read the Gita, Ramayana etc.

I had close association with Dr Kalam, who was very fond of me. When I was Chief Justice of Madras High Court I went to his home in Rameshwaram and met his elder brother. The house was a simple cottage with a few rooms. I thought that had it been another President the house would have become a palace.

I may relate some other incidents about him.

When I was a Supreme Court Judge, I attended a function where he was the Chief Guest. In that function he recited some poems of the great Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, (which he translated in English ), from which I came to know that Bharati was a great nationalist and proponent of women’s emancipation. I confess I had no knowledge of his poetry earlier, and later I used these poems in some of my judgments e.g. Hinsa Virodhak Sangh vs Mirzapur Moti Koresh Jamaat and in my article ‘On Women’s Emancipation’.

In another function which I attended, and in which also he was the Chief Guest, he said that he was writing his speech for the occasion late at night when he received a telephonic call from Tamilnadu from his grand daughter (his sister’s daughter’s daughter).

He told her that he could not talk to her since he was writing an important speech to be delivered the next day. She said “All right, I won’t trouble you. But just tell me one thing, how can I become a Judge? You appoint the Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court and High Court Judges. So you are the best person to know”.

Dr Kalam replied “To be a judge you have to be noble”.

At this, his grand daughter abruptly disconnected. Dr Kalam narrated this incident with glee and mirth.

Dr Kalam was the Chief Guest at a Pongal-Sankranti Day function held at my residence many years ago in Delhi. I decided to hold this function because I felt it would contribute to national integration.

Pongal is perhaps the most important festival in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh, and since there are many Tamil and Telugu speakers in Delhi I wanted them to feel at home. So I requested some Tamilian lawyers of the Supreme Court to help me organise the function, and they did an excellent job.

Two sisters who play the nadeswaram came from Madurai to perform on this occasion, and a Canadian lady married to a Tamilian performed a Bharat Natyam dance. Among the huge crowd, many of them South Indians, were eminent dignitaries like former Chief Justice of India Justice Venkatachaliah (whom I regard as the father figure of the Indian judiciary), Justice Sathasivam (who was then a Supreme Court judge and later became Governor of Kerala), Justice Chalameshwar, and some other judges of the Supreme Court and High Court, Mr P.Chidambaram (then Union Finance Minister), the German Ambassador to India, Mr Michael Steiner and his wife, etc.