Rameshwaram: Amidst chanting of "Vande Mataram" by thousands of people and with full military honours, the mortal remains of former President APJ Abdul Kalam were laid to rest at Peikarumbu in his hometown Rameswaram on Thursday.
At a solemn farewell ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, Governors, chief ministers and people from all walks of life, India celebrated the life of the 'Missile Man' who inspired several lakhs of people with his thoughts.
The body of the People's President, which was draped in tricolour, was taken in a procession from Mohaideen Andavar Mosque near his ancestral house to the burial site at Peikarumbu.
The Prime Minister, who arrived at the burial site around 11am, paid homages to Kalam and saluted the body. Later, Modi was seen speaking to the family members of Kalam, including the former President's 99-year-old elder brother Mohammed Muthu Meeran Maraikayar who had arrived at the site earlier.
Dignitaries who attended the funeral included Union ministers Manohar Parrikar, Venkaiah Naidu and Pon Radhakrishnan, Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah, Kerala Governor and former chief Justice of India P Sathasivam, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Tamil Nadu ministers including O Panneerselvam.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former Union ministers P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad were also among the dignitaries who attended the funeral.
People from all over the state and other parts of the country arrived here to pay tributes to Kalam.
Sajeesh Aadharsh, a Class 11 boy, came all the way from Bengaluru. Motivated by Kalam, Sajeesh wanted to be an astronaut. "Kalam sir was a vibrant man with full of energy and inspired people with his positive attitude," he said.
Sajeesh was accompanied by his neighbour, Sathyajeet Gupta, a senior bank manager in Bengaluru. Sathyajeet, who is originally hailing from Bihar, said they could reach here before the funeral thanks to a special train from Madurai. "Kalam looked like a common man. From humble beginning he managed to reach heights," he said.
Foreigners, particularly students studying at Indian institutions on exchange programmes, travelled to the coastal town to pay tributes to Kalam. Agathe Lorriot, a French student doing political science at Loyola College in Chennai, was one such student. She came along with six others from France. "I have read a lot about him. He was such an inspiring person. He was born in village but went on to enrich India with nuclear power," she said.
Tushkar Kshirsagar, a native of Pune, had not seen Kalam in person, but he has read the books authored by the former President. He came all the way to Peikarumbu village from Chennai on his two-wheeler to pay homage to Kalam. His friend Prabakaran Selvaraj accompanied him on another two-wheeler.
V Krishnan, a truck driver, reached here after travelling 18 hours from Kolar in Karnataka. He took seven buses to reach here. "I love Kalam and am inspired by his contributions to India's space and missile programmes and nuclear technology," he said.
The Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday on Thursday as a mark of respect to Kalam. Shops remained closed in Rameswaram and other parts of the state.
Courtesy Times of India