It’s people’s celebration at Kalam memorial

The memorial, built by the DRDO at the burial site of the People’s President at Peikarumbu attracts a large number of people, especially during the holidays. 

In the morning, the family members of Kalam offered special prayers and paid their tributes. Elder brother of Kalam, Mohammed Muthumeeran Maraikayar, paid floral tributes to his brother. 

Following this, state IT Minister Manikandan, Ramanthapuram Collector S Natarajan, Ramanathapuram SP Omprakash Meena and other officials offered tributes to Kalam. Later, Ramanathapuram MP Anwar Raja too paid tributes at the memorial. School and college students who gathered in large numbers took a pledge to study and work hard for the society. 

They also promised to realise the dreams of Kalam. As it was a Sunday, a large number of visitors made a beeline to the memorial to pay their tributes to the visionary scientist and former President. 

However, neither the DRDO, which maintains the Kalam memorial, nor the Ramanathapuram district administration, had arranged any programme in honour of Kalam on the occasion of his birth anniversary. 

It was disheartening that on the very first year of the opening of the memorial, the DRDO, which he served, has failed to celebrate Kalam’s birth anniversary in a befitting manner.

As part of the birth anniversary celebrations, Kalam’s niece Nasima prepared poriurundai , his favourite sweet, and distributed it to the visitors. Addressing the media, she said that whenever Kalam visited their house, he used to ask her to prepare poriurundai and so she used to prepare well in advance whenever he visited them. She also said that she badly misses Kalam and so she prepared the sweet on her own to distribute them to the people on the occasion of his birth anniversary.