Four months to go but his home & campus prepare for ex-President Kalam

So a two-storeyed house on Muslim street has been freshly painted in blue, even the letter-box has got a fresh coat of red. “We built a room with an attached bathroom and also made facilities for a computer. He (Kalam) will need to work on it often,” said Mohammed Muthu Meeran Labbai Maraikayar (89), Kalam’s elder brother.

Even the furnishing is ready — Kalam’s favourite wooden chair and table, his slide rule and, of course, his favourite Veena, which will travel with him from Rashtrapati Bhavan. “He loves literature, Carnatic music and Veena is his favourite. He plays one and takes the instrument wherever he goes. It was there at his Asiad Village quarters when he was with DRDO and now it is kept in his room at Rashtrapati Bhavan,” said Nazema.

Maraikayar is upset over an unconfirmed local newspaper report that government offices in the state were already taking Kalam’s pictures off the walls. “Whatever people may say, we are all eagerly waiting for Kakka to come and live here. This is his house,” said Maraikayar’s daughter-in-law Mohabhat Biwi.

The “House of Kalam” has a continuous stream of visitors, who knock on the doors just to shake hands with Maraikayar, “the President’s brother.” After visiting the Rameshwaram temple, pilgrims make a beeline for Kalam’s house. “They come straight after a dip in the sea and sit on his bed and make it all wet. But we don’t turn them away. They feel a sense of pride when they enter this house,” said Nazema.

Meanwhile, in Chennai, a university is also eagerly waiting for him. “We hope he will assist us in teaching and research,” D Vishwanathan, Vice Chancellor of Anna University, told The Sunday Express. Kalam’s old living quarters have already been spruced up. Factoring in security, a bungalow has been renovated at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

Kalam, a former Professor of Technology and Societal Transformation at Anna University, had agreed to be the country’s President in 2002 only after he got the assurance from the then Vice Chancellor that Varsity rules would permit him to continue his assignment as a guide for its students. He continues to guide his only PhD student, Father A Kuriakose. There are others waiting — if Kalam returns home.