Kalam's driver now a lecturer - What an inspriation

ATTUR: Two decades ago, Dr. Kathiresan was a driver to A P J Abdul Kalam. Now he is a lecturer in Tamil Nadu. The change is the result of the pep talk he got from the former President.

Kathiresan joined the army in 1979. He was trained as an electrical mechanic in Bhopal before being posted as driver to Kalam at Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad in the late 1980s.

“I worked as driver for ‘ayya’ (Sir) for five-and-a-half years. He is a very nice person and is responsible for where I am in life today,” Kathiresan said. “I always wanted to finish my studies, which I discontinued after my father’s death. Ayya’s words gave wings to my dreams.”

He studied in the night after his duty hours. “I spent all the salary on studies,” he recalled.

After appearing for his Std X exams, Kathiresan finished his BA (History) and MA (History). He left the job in 1996 to pursue higher studies after which he joined the Chief Education Officer’s office in Tirunelveli. He also did his MA (Political Science) and Ph D in History.

On August 6, the 47-yr-old joined as lecturer in Arignar Anna Government Arts College in Salem district. “I had written to him to inform that I had quit DRDL and joined the CEO’s office. I was touched when I got a reply,” he said. “By then, he had become the President. I still have the letter with me.”

He plans to write again to inform the former President about his new avatar