NDA's presidential candidate Dr APJ Abul Kalam teaches at the Anna University in Chennai. While Dr Kalam is not speaking to the media just yet, his colleagues and students are thrilled - saying there couldn't have been 
a better man for the post.

While working on technology and societal transformation from his simple office at the Anna University, Professor APJ Abdul Kalam used to take inspiration from the life of Mahatma Gandhi, his role model, to stimulate young minds in their research work and encourage them to dream big.

Dr Kalam's only student, Fr George, has been working on implanting a computer chip in mentally challenged 
children. George says the Presidential nominee has promised to continue to assist and monitor his project 
even if he assumes the highest political office.

"During this crisis period I feel that he knows the strength and weakness of both India and Pakistan. So he 
should be at the helm of affairs now. He is such an incorruptible man that nobody can object. You will never 
feel that this is that great scientist who has been working with missiles and other things. He is 100 per 
cent human," says George. 

Even his old classmates and colleagues at work are overjoyed at Kalam's nomination. They remember fondly 
his simplicity, humane nature and his zeal to inspire young minds. 

"He has got that basic humility and humaneness to interact with everybody in all walks of life. He always 
enthuses people to solve their problems and work together. He is really a builder," says R Balakrishnan, 
Kalam's classmate. 

There is a sense of jubilation and elation at Prof Kalam's nomination for the post of President. Students 
here believe that he will continue to ignite young minds not only in Anna University but throughout the country, 
to make his dream of a self-reliant India come true. 

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's birth place, a small fishing hamlet in Rameshwaram, is gripped in a festive mood in 
anticipation of his probable elevation to the top post in the country.

Dr Kalam's simple ancestral home is tucked away in Muslim Street off the Dhanushkodi Coast in Rameshwaram. 
Kalam first broke the news to his 85-year-old brother Mohammad Maraikaiyar. 

Recalling their childhood days, Maraikaiyar says Kalam's achievement is even more remarkable because in his early 
years Kalam had to work as a paperboy to finance his education. Their father, a boatman, couldn't earn enough 
money to send Abdul to school. 

"He always confides everything in me. He informed me about his nomination first. I'm happy for his well 
deserved success," says Mohammad Maraikaiyar.

Getting finances to do higher education was also not easy. Kalam's sister sold her jewellery to provide money 
for his graduation from St Joseph's College, Trichy. 

"As a hosteller here he had a staunch Hindu and a Christian as room-mates. That's probably how he got a 
taste of religious harmony," says Father AG Leonard, principal of St Joseph's College, Trichy.

"As a childhood friend he used to be always immersed in academics. He was wedded to his books! That's why he 
didn't get married at all," says Dr Abdul Kalam's friend Sivasubramania Sastry. 

The news of Kalam's nomination for President is slowly sinking into the people's minds in Rameshwaram. For his 
childhood friends and neighbours, it's nothing short of providential. As the fishing hamlet is catapulted to the 
national headlines, preparations are on to celebrate the success of Rameshwaram's most prominent son.