Friday, Jul 08, 2005
Friday, Jul 08, 2005 |
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Coimbatore
M. Soundariya Preetha
NOSTALGIC MOMENTS: T. Sampath Kumar shows a photograph he has taken with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. — Photo: M. Periasamy
COIMBATORE: : They joined St. Joseph's College, Tiruchi, in 1950 for their Intermediate and stayed in the same room for two years. They spent two more years in the same college and hostel, though they studied different courses. One was from Coimbatore and the other from Rameshwaram. One went on to become an engineer and is now a textile exporter. The other became a scientist and is today the First Citizen. What binds both even now is their friendship — one that continues for more than half-a-century with the same warmth. T. Sampath Kumar met Mr. Kalam in 2003 after nearly 45 years and visited him at least a couple of times after he became the President. But he had not expected the President to come to his house here. He was in for a pleasant shock when Mr. Kalam accepted his invitation. The entire family got into action to receive him on July 6. "We wanted to make him feel at home," Mr. Sampath Kumar said.
Special gift
Apart from a simple, but a special, dinner (including Mr. Kalam's favourite dishes), there was also a special gift for the President — a copy of Rajaji's Ramayana and Mahabaratha in English. When the President came here on Wednesday, it was a gathering of 35 family members and a handful of friends at Mr. Kumar's house at Saibaba Colony. The President enquired all family members, especially the children on what they were studying and what they wanted to do after completing their school education. It was also an opportunity for the young and old in the family to get Mr. Kalam's autograph on his books — a prized treasure for them.
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