Books help human beings lead a good life, said former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in the city on Saturday.

In an interactive session with the students of Presidency College, Mr. Kalam said when he was studying at the Madras Institute of Technology in Chromepet, he used to come to Moore Market complex to buy old books.

When asked about his first failure, Mr. Kalam said, in 1979, he headed a team which was involved in launching a satellite at Indian Space Research Organisation, Sriharikotta.

On the day of the launch, the satellite, instead of moving on its scheduled orbit, fell into the Bay of Bengal. That was his first failure from which he learnt and conducted several successful missions.

Answering another question on the importance of technology and research, Mr. Kalam said intensity was lacking amongst researchers today.

To improve this, there is a need to rewrite the curriculum in a way that it promotes research. Students should also learn to accept defeats and celebrate it, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai> Events / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – June 22nd, 2014