By the time Air India One with the then President APJ Abdul Kalam on board landed in Bulgaria on a nippy October day in 2003, Satish Kumar was already on his feet waiting to fetch the President’s luggage. But Dr. Kalam would have none of it; at least not until Mr. Kumar had a warm coat on.
“I was in my shirt and it was cold outside. He insisted I wear a coat first and then step out with his bags. He even offered to arrange warm clothes for me. That was him,” Mr Kumar who served as Dr. Kalam’s butler for five years in Rashtrapati Bhavan told The Hindu .
Protocol and procedure are sacrosanct in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, but Dr. Kalam was the unassuming boss, who never made demands. Butlers and office assistants who worked with him have stories to share of his generosity and modesty. Of how he would wait for them to eat and then leave if the venue was outside Rashtrapati Bhavan or ensure they were looked after on tours abroad.
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“He would ask us to look around, learn more. And he was always asking us to ensure our children get an education,” Salim Alam Khan, who also served as his butler recalled.
The "unpretentious" boss is affectionately remembered; for his love of books, of playing the Veena and constantly breaking security protocol to rush and greet people.
They remember him as a frugal eater, whose only concern was to have an eight hour gap between meals. The butlers don't recall him ever having demanded a dish or complained. “He ate one idli with sambar for breakfast; lunch was equally light with some rice and sambar. If we prepared more than one dish of vegetables, he'd ask if it was a festival” said Mr. Khan.
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As tributes pour in for the scientist and the teacher, in the President’s Estate he is remembered for the legacy he left behind--the digitisation of the library, the tactile garden for the visually impaired, a health centre, street lights, pavements, new quarters for the staff and most of all, throwing the Rashtrapati Bhavan open to all. Farmers were routinely invited to the Estate to learn about farming techniques.
In his spare time, Dr. Kalam was fond of reading; SNS Prakash who manages the library said he would work late into the night on his computer or send for books on science, nano technology in particularly, literature both in Tamil and English.
He earned the sobriquet of Missile Man and the People’s President, but for his staff he was a child at heart. Dhirendra Kumar Sahu who served as his assistant said he would lose track of time when he was with children. “We had heard about Chacha Nehru, but with him we got to see what it was like,” he said.
His eyes glistening with tears Mr. Sahu said the only time Dr. Kalam’s kin visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan was soon after he assumed office, but he made up for their absence by treating his staff as his family. “He was never the rashtrapati to us, he was our family.”