A.P.J Abdul Kalam: Too bad we did not retain him

All during his five-year tenure, the 75-year-old A P J Abdul Kalam's
preferred menu at the table was idli, dosa and sambar besides curd-rice,
pickle and pappad, recalls a senior aide.

A habitual late-eater at night, the missile-man had made it clear to the
comptroller of household in Rashtrapati Bhavan to prepare all his meals
only from the general kitchen, which caters to other staff members in the
Presidential estate.

Stopping the practice of a number of attendants in waiting till the
President finished his dinner and retired for the night, Kalam insisted on
holding back only one person to warm up his meals, which he used to take
well-past midnight.

There have been occasions when Kalam required some help from other aides
during the night. Leaving aside protocol, Kalam, who has earned a
reputation of being a people's President, picked up the phone and directly
seek the information he required.

"He was a no requirement man," recalls his Press Secretary S M Khan.

During the entire tenure, the family kitchen specially meant for the
President was never operational. Not even when his 50-odd relatives had
come to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Kalam insisted that he make the payments for the expenditure incurred
during the stay of the relatives. The President, who skips lunch, had also
a love for fruits of any type. "Anything that was seasonal would satisfy
him. We had created a verandah garden for him in which citrus japonica
(China orange) grew.

"Though tasting very bitter, the President used to have them because of
its rich Vitamin-C content," OSD Brahma Singh said.

Defying the age-old principle of early to bed..., Kalam used to sleep
around 1-1:30 am and used to get up at around 6:30 am. He was the only
President, whose daily list of engagement was about 10.

Recounts his secretary P M Nair about his experience four years back. "It
was the morning of July 14, 2003. 8:40 am. The rax in my office rang. It
was the President at the other end."

In his usually cool and composed voice, Kalam told him "Mr Nair, last
night I could not sleep because my bedroom was leaking.

"I froze. Any other President, and my head would have rolled, though no
fault of mine," Nair said in his 'thank you' note to officials of
Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Sensing his embarrassment, the rocket-scientist spoke in a comforting
tone. "Don't worry, I know you will immediately set things right in my
bedroom but I am worried about those houses in the President's estate
where they may not have a second bedroom to shift to when the only one
that is available leaks."

Nair responded saying, "Sorry sir, I shall act just now."