As President, A P J Abdul Kalam always had a packed itinerary. As a former President, he still has. In the 227 days since he demitted office, Kalam has addressed over 180 gatherings, has visited 11 states and has travelled to six countries, including the US, the UK and Israel. Other than several educational institutions and universities in India (he’s a visiting professor in many), including IITs and IIMs, Kalam has spoken at NASSCOM, the annual Google India Conference, the Space Security Conference at IDSA and the World Toilet Summit—on issues ranging from poverty and female foeticide to farmers and SEZs. Helping Kalam at his 10, Rajaji Marg bungalow is a team of five people who act as his support staff. While two of them deal with appointments (Kalam gets a flood of requests every day), the rest assist him in research for preparing his addresses, and making Powerpoint presentations. “Dr Kalam generally works late into the night, till around 1 am but gets up at 6 am. His day begins with praying and taking a 1-hour walk. He then scans his e-mails and requests for appointments. Then, he prepares his messages,” says an aide.
