Missile Man memorial hits low trajectory

​Rameswaram: In the manner in which he, as the President of India, remained accessible to the common man, the late Dr A P J Abdul Kalam has remained matchless till date. Naturally then, he is credited for totally transforming the image of the First Citizen of the country.

As the nation observes his first death anniversary on Wednesday, the NDA government, under whose earlier reign he was elected as President (2002-07), has moved in to expedite a memorial at Pei Karumbu, barely a kilometre outside his hometown Rameswaram on the Madurai highway.

Responding to Derek O’ Brien in the Rajya Sabha last week on the occasion of Guru Purnima, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had affirmed that the foundation stone for Kalam’s memorial would be laid on July 27, irrespective of the fact that while the Centre wanted five acres of land for the memorial, only 1.8 acres land was presently available. This is in continuation after the foundation for the compound wall for the memorial site was laid in December last.

With social media platforms running a campaign on the tardy progress made and orchestrating a signature campaign which has attracted more than 1.2 lakh supporters, it was sure that the memorial site topic would initiate heated debates.

Already, the TMC MP during his speech in the Upper House had expressed anguish and pointed out that the grave is in a “site which is lying with a tin shed roof, dogs defecating everywhere. It is total mess”. The AIADMK members obviously protested at this statement but the reality was close to what the quiz master MP had pointed out.

The Hans India spoke to A P J M J Sheik Saleem, grand nephew of Dr Abdul Kalam, who is running a variety gift store at the ancestral premises of the 11th President in Rameswaram.

While the Mission of Life gallery which showcases the stupendous achievements of Kalam is located on the first floor, the Kalam Arcade, which cross-subsidises the museum is on the second.

“Kalam Sir had come to this house sometime in 2010 middle and felt that it needs to be re-built to accommodate the burgeoning crowd of visitors who used to come to meet him. On an average, there used to be tourists and locals totaling nearly 2,000 at times.

Hence, this House of Kalam came about, an improved version of his father’s home,” said Saleem. “Once that was done, we slowly developed on the idea of building a museum to highlight Kalam Sir’s life and times.

We do not charge anything from the people but our gift store sales in handicrafts and sea shells enable us maintain the property comfortably,” he said.

Obviously, Mosque Street, in which this museum is located is full of me-too shops playing up the presidential connection and selling similar stuff.

There is one which is cheek-by-jowl to the Dr Kalam’s property, whose owner too is one S Abdul Kalam. Sources said that he has his shop in that area for a longer tenure than the new store that Dr Kalam’s family has come up with.

Presently, the family members are satisfied that they have been invited for the foundation stone laying on Wednesday between 9-10 am. They are equally thankful that there are voices all over that raise its volume for supporting welfare-oriented icons like Dr Kalam.