Untold glimpses of Kalam in 'Kalam Effect: My Years with the President'

Suddenly a new book The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President, written by PM Nair, who remained Kalam’s secretary through out his term has evoked lots of interest among the voracious readers and even among those who are not.

The book to be released on Monday mentioned the untold glimpses of Kalam’s life who continues to inspire adult, youth and children alike. The incident also marks the subtlety of the president who maintained his principle that makes him stand tall.

There are many incident mentioned in the book which will touch the readers heart but will send a sense of guilt to those who would have questioned or doubted Kalam’s credibility during his presidential years.

Interestingly, the book mention two letters which though were dumped but revealed the different aspect of this personality, one was an appointment letter to Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister while other was his resignation after he signed the papers which led to suspension of Bihar Assembly.

After the 2004 election Kalam invited Sonia Gandhi to meet him in which everything was planned and an appointment letter was prepared in advance appointing Sonia as PM but on he eventful date nothing happen as planned as Sonia refused and instead suggested Manmohan Singh’s name, the letter was of no significance and a new letter was drafted appointing Manmohan as Prime Minister.

While in Bihar’s case, he once returned the bill that seeks dissolving of Bihar Assembly though for the second time too he did not support the bill but he had to sign under constitutional compulsion when he was on state visit to Russia in 2005. But what added to his grief was when Supreme Court hailed the bill unconstitutional in 2006.

The writer writes that Kalam told him of his decision to quit from the post of president but the writer helped the President to come out the situation to which president has acknowledged.

Nair also revealed that how people like retired Chief Secretaries used to suggest their own candidacy for gubernatorial post and how eminent people used to suggest their own name for the civilian awards like Padma Bhusan and others.

Another incident screams the class of this man who is one of the most loved presidents and is fondly called as People’s President; it was when his relatives visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan and to all surprise Kalam paid entire bill for their stay.

The books written on Kalam are among the most popular books which used to disappear as soon as they hit the stores; it also tells the immense popularity Kalam has in this world. No doubt, Kalam Effect seems to top the chart for all good reasons for he is the person who ignite minds.