I feel you are all missing the point about Kalam. He may have not done great science, but he is one of the finest ( the best till today) as a scientific manager in India. We Indians are good performers in science , but bad managers. Very few Indians have managed science in India well. Indians abroad perform well , but the managers, most of them are westerners. There may have been about 12 after independence who have managed science and technology so well in India. Sarabhai Dhawan, Bhabha, Swaminathan , Kurien ( if you could call him as a man of science) to name a few. I have talked to many people who have worked with Kalam in ISRO . Nobody speaks ill of Kalam. They always quote his great human acts of managerial acumen, which would spur all to work. An average Indian is very good in academics. He can rattle out many things from his mind , but to deliver technology ( not software , but also hardware) one has to give up arrogance, motivate, and above all be ready to sacrifice (which Kalam could as he was and is a bachelor). Look what he has done to the Presidents' office. You have to just go and see it or see the web site. No Indian President has been so active as he is. One great thing about him is that he is not negative when he talks. Doing science and managing science is not the same. If your are very good in science , then you will be good scientist. but it does not mean that, you can be a good manager of science India requires more scientific managers like Kalam , so that hardware ( body) and software ( mind) work in unison.
