The book that inspired me

, President A P J Abdul Kalam represents the quintessential best of his journey through personal and professional struggles, to self-realisation, and also to adulation and success.

An autobiography like this cannot be anything but an inspiration on how to dream and realise one's dreams. This book brings out many unknown facets of Kalam as an engineer, innovator, mentor of colleagues, and a builder of institutions and a nation.

The book is also an excellent guide to R&D management. With Kalam as an example, it brings out the least romanticised fabric that leaders are made of "" hard work, persistence, a single-minded focus, intense commitment and, above all, a passion for life.

Apart from the technological perspectives on space science and India's struggle for self-reliance, Wings of Fire is also about an individual's inner quest for excellence and a derived sense of purpose he cared so deeply about that he wanted to make it the greatest it can possibly be. Not because of what he would get out of it, but just because he knew it could be done.

All that mattered to Kalam was his passion for what he did and he worked for the technological advancement of his country. Wings of Fire not only inspired me but injected me with a belief that if you care for a purpose deeply enough, it is possible to achieve the impossible.

Wings of Fire "" An Autobiography

Authors: A P J Kalam with Arun Tiwari
Paperback: 180 pages Publisher: Orient Longman
ISBN: 8173711461

Mukul Agrawal, Managing Director, Unisys Global Services India and Country Manager, Unisys India