Dr. APJ Kalam was the Third President to receive Bharath Ratna before becoming a  President.He will be remembered for his passion for science & innovation & his contribution as an eminent scientist. He started his career from Bangalore,DRDO (ADE) in 1960. He was to design a Hovercraft for the Army. Dr Vikram Sarabhai,picked him up & sent him to ISRO to design Satellite launch vehicle(slv-iii) He secretly nurtured the ambition to become a fighter pilot & was involved in the development of Tejas (LCA)
Kalam, the former president collapsed while delivering a lecture for the students of IIM,Shillong . It seems he showed no sign of life, when taken to Bethani Hospital in Nangrim hills(Shillong) where he was in UCU for 45 mts,before he was declared DEAD
Though he was a Muslim (his people were fishermen & a News  Paper distributor) he was a staunch vegetarian ,liked Karnatic music,Particularly Thyagarajara kirtans(People used to call him Kalam IYYER).
It is said in school,he could not PAY his fees & his Brahmin friend(siting next to him,on the same bench)told his father(a Brahmin  priest in a temple,in Rameshwaram) about this Boy & introduced him. The priest agreed to take him under his wings,and financed his education) Although he was well versed in Koran,yet he was quite comfortable with Bhagawad Geetha..
In his death India lost a great scientist,a great Human & a good Tamilian,Muslim President.