CHENNAI: On the first floor of Anna University guest house is a modest three-room accommodation which once used to be the cynosure of all eyes on the campus. This was where the late President APJ Abdul Kalam resided during his eight-month stint as an honorary professor of the university. The room which was never open to anyone but him has now been turned into a memorial.
“We have kept everything as it is,” says T Nagarajan, Deputy Registrar, pointing to a table which has the Holy Quran, a Laya Madhuram CD by L Gopakumar and a tape recorder. “He (Kalam) was an ardent listener of Carnatic music, he was a great fan of MS Subbulakshmi. His day used to begin at 5 am with the reading of the Quran and listening to Carnatic vocals, before stepping out for a long walk. That is the time when students will be waiting to field questions,” he reminisces.
T Nagarajan and S Balasubramaniam — personal assistant to the Registrar — were his two personal assistants. “It was on the morning of December 7, 2001, I was sitting in my office, the door suddenly opened and I saw Kalam. He introduced himself and told me that I was going to be his personal assistant during his time here. I was stunned and speechless,” recalls Balasubramaniam who was called ‘Balu Sir’ by Kalam.
“He was the only one who would call me that way,” he says.
They recalled the day when Kalam entered the room with one small leather bag which contained three sets of his clothes, a pair of shoes and a few books. “I was surprised to see a man of his stature live such a simple life. He was contented, concerned about people around him and their families, and was polite and punctual. Not once has he shown any pride or arrogance. I have never come across someone like him in my entire life,” says Nagarajan.
It was during his stay at the university when Kalam received a call from the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office, informing him about the proposal to choose him as the next President. “He (Kalam) was sitting in the bedroom, and the phone rang. When I answered, someone said the Prime Minister wanted to speak with him. I became nervous hearing that and handed the phone over to him. He was listening patiently and at the end he said that he will discuss the proposition with his colleagues. He turned to me and Balu and said in his signature Brahmin accent ‘The government wants me to become the country’s President,” recalls Nagarajan. Overjoyed, both Nagaraj and Balu insisted him to accept it.
“We were not the ones alone — everybody around him knew that he was the best fit,” says Balu. After two weeks, it was time for Kalam to go to his new home, the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Even after leaving, he would call his two favourite assistants up and enquire their whereabouts, and invited them for a visit to his official residence for six days. “The place was like heaven. But Kalam’s room had only few sets of clothes, a pair of shoes and lots of books. He was just the same,” recalls Balu.
His room at Anna University, now a memorial, still has the same books and materials that he left behind for the students. “I used to always regret not interacting with him, and this idea of turning his room into a memorial will help ease the disappointment,” says Anupam Chakraborty, a third year mining engineering student at the university.