A person knows the value of work when he has been through difficult times and has survived on simple jobs. Dr. Kalam used to collect tamarind seeds and sell them during the Second World War. He also worked as a newspaper boy.
Kalam was only eight years old when the Second World War broke out. It was the year 1939 and there was a huge demand for tamarind seeds in the market. He collected them and sold them for an anna, a very small coin, but substantial for a young boy like him.
His brother-in-law Jallaluddin used to tell him stories about the war and young Kalam would try to follow these stories through the pages of Dinamani, a Tamil newspaper. Although Rameswaram was not directly impacted by the war as it was an isolated island, trains stopped halting at the station. This meant bundles of newspapers were now thrown off running trains. Kalam’s cousin Samsuddin, who used to distribute the newspapers in Rameswaram, asked Kalam’s help to catch the bundles, and he thus started working as a newspaper boy.
Kalam earned his first wages in this work and it gave him a great sense of self-confidence and pride.
Picture Credit : Google