Kalamspeak: I hope my successor has self-confidence

Three days before he demits office, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Saturday said the one thing he would like to see in his successors was a lot of self-confidence.

Three days before he demits office, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Saturday said the one thing he would like to see in his successors was a lot of self-confidence.

“I want that the President of India has self-confidence so that the nation can have self-confidence,” he said when asked what did he have to say to his successor Pratibha Patil. Kalam was talking to reporters after inaugurating an auditorium inside the Rashtrapati Bhawan estate.

“Every President brings his or her core competence to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Every President enriches Rashtrapati Bhawan.”

Asked for his parting shot, the President replied: “I am not parting. I will continue to remain among my one billion people.”

Later, addressing families of the presidential staff, Kalam thanked them for making Rashtrapati Bhawan a people’s place. “Rashtrapati Bhawan has given me many memorable moments. I have had the privilege of the partnership of all of you, which turned this Rashtrapati Bhawan into a people’s bhawan,” he said.

And in his last instruction to children living in the presidential estate, he asked each one of them to plant a tree within the estate “before tomorrow. These plants will be named after you. And the garden will be called The Family Garden”.