Abdul Kalam was born in a middle class family at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen was a common, uneducated but wise and generous man by nature. Kalam’s mother Ashiamma was an ideal partner to her husband and equally generous to maintain hospitality towards guests and family members.

Jainulabdeen had a small ancestral pucca house in his town which was simple but comfortable. Kalam enjoyed a safe and secured childhood with all the basic needs satisfied.

During the Second World War in 1939, Kalam employed himself to earn an anna by collecting and selling tamarind seeds in the market. The effect of war, however, was not much on his town. Later he distributed newspapers and felt the pride of being self-reliant.

Despite being a Muslim, Kalam had three close friends from Brahmin families who equally showed the least concern towards religious differences. The stories of the Ramayana and life of the Prophet were bedtime stories imbibed in the heart of Abdul Kalam. As a token of secular idealism, Kalam’s family served Lord Rama during Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony.

The feeling of secularism was very strong among every inhabitant of the town. When Kalam was separated from his close friend Ramanadha Sastry by a new teacher, Sastry’s father instructed the teacher to maintain religious tolerance and social equality. Another incident that had a great impact on young Kalam was the change in the behaviour of his science teacher’s wife from rigid orthodoxy to social equality. The science teacher’s firm attitude to confront the problems of inequality and change the social systems impressed Kalam