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The girl behind Who is Kalam

The book titled Who is Kalam? may be intriguing but has a heart-warming story behind it. It is the story of a teenaged schoolgirl who posed a tough question to the former President. In turn, she was greeted with an answer that inspired her to become a scientist.

It was in 2001, that Sudarkodi Sukumar, a 14-year-old from Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district, sent a question to Kalam in a Tamil monthly for children. She never knew that her question could inspire him so much that he would name a book after it. 

Her question was: “Please rank yourself among the following: Scientist, Tamilian, human being and an Indian.” Kalam’s answer was: “One can find all three in a human being”.

In 2003, Sukumar got an invitation to New Delhi for the release of the book Who is Kalam? A Good Human Being, which was dedicated to her. The book by Kalam’s aide R Ramanathan, about the personal side of the scientist-turned-Indian president, was released by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. 

The next day, Sukumar, along with her family were called by Kalam in the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the meeting changed her life. “I realised that one has to pursue the passion of one’s life. I used to read all his writings when I was in school,” she recalled.

The title Who is Kalam? was suggested by the former president himself, according to K P R Nair, managing director of Konark Publishers, who published the book. “Though I suggested some titles for the book, Kalam himself came up with Who is Kalam. The question raised by the girl was etched in his memory,” Nair said. 
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