A wonderful opportunity and experience to meet Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

In 1998, I had the privilege to meet Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who bought a significant shift in my career vision, and I rejected a job offer from the USA to continue working in India.

I was a student at IIT Kanpur, where my career vision was simple - to graduate, get a job (probably in the USA), and settle.

That's when I was invited to Aero India'98 as a student delegate, where I met Dr. Kalam, and he shared a story that gives me goosebumps to date.

This a story he has also mentioned in his book 'Beyond 2020: A Vision for Tomorrow's India':

In 1974, a young girl approached him and asked him for an autograph. While giving her a signature, he asked the young girl about her dreams.

The girl replied, "I want to live in a developed India." It made him pause his writing and wonder - We don't have a proper telephone or telecom service, no R&D or no army, and this little girl is forcing me to think how we can become a developed nation.

For the next three years, Dr.Kalam identified how India could become a developed nation, and that's how 'Beyond 2020' came into existence.

He then asked us one question, "Can you, students, contribute 0.00001% to a developed India?"

That's when I decided that I wanted to do something for India and accepted a job offer in India at Tata Infotech, where I worked on an automation project for the Indian army.

Have you ever had such an impactful experience?

Source: Linkedin

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