The sudden demise of former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam has led to a huge demand for the books authored by him and the books on him in Salem and Namakkal districts.
For the past two days, the book stalls in Salem city and Namakkal town and elsewhere in the towns of Attur, Sankagiri, Edappadi, Tiruchengode etc have been getting a good stream of book lovers, a majority of them youths and school students, searching for the books by and on Kalam.
The demand is particularly for the books ‘India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium’, ‘Wings of Fire’, ‘My Journey’ and ‘Turning Points: A Journey Through Challenges’ all authored by Kalam, says D. Sathyaseelan, Branch Manager of New Century Book House in the city.
The Tamil versions of these books “India 2020: Tholainokku Paarvai”, “Agni Siragugal”, “Enathu Payanam” and “Thiruppu Munaigal” have been much sought after by the school students.
A private school in Dharmapuri district has placed a bulk order for 250 books “India 2020: A vision for the New Millennium” on Tuesday. “We are running short of stock and we have instantly placed order for the same with our headquarters for the immediate despatch of the books”, says Mr. Sathyaseelan. “Kalamai Kaelungal” (Ask Kalam), compilation of the question and answer sessions handled by late Abdul Kalam with students, has also been much sought after, he says.
“I came to know about the untimely demise of Kalam, only when people started making enquiries about the availability of the books, says C. Rajasekaran, who runs Desan Book Shop on the Junction Main Road.
A lot of youngsters are visiting the shop even from far away places such as Omalur since Tuesday morning to buy his books.
“Kalam has always been advocating reading habit among students. It is heartening to see many young boys and girls visiting the book stall. It is a fitting tribute”, says B. S. Barkathullah, a former bank officer of Suramangalam, who was in the book stall to get his own copy.
