Mysore: President A P J Kalam celebrated his 75th birthday on Sunday in Karnataka's picturesque Billigiri Rangana hills inhabited by tribals.
The Soliga tribals, numbering over 50,000, were overjoyed to see the first citizen celebrating his birthday amidst them, and Kalam too seemed to enjoy every minute of his two-and-half -hour stay in the hills, 48 km from here. Kalam had spent his last birthday in Suttur village near Mysore.
As he arrived in the hills after alighting from a helicopter at a specially built helipad 30 km away, the Soliga children greeted him by singing birthday songs in Kannada, Tamil and English. They presented a bouquet to Kalam, who was deeply touched by their warmth and affection.
Later, he inaugurated the silver jublee celebrations of the Vivekenanda Girijana Kalyana Kendra, which has transformed the hills in the last 25 years by exposing the tribals to the modern world, empowering them and taking care to preserve their rich cultural heritage.
The Kendra came into being in 1980 with Sudharshan, a medical graduate from Bangalore, starting it with the help of local tribes to transform their lives by providing modern education and training them.
Governor T N Chaturvedi and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa greeted the President. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who could not come, sent his greetings through the minister in-charge of the district, D T Jayakumar.
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