Abdul Kalam's simplicity touched everyone: Sourav Ganguly

Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday said that A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's simplicity touched not just him but everyone who met the former president of India, who passed away in Shillong on Monday night.

Kalam, 83, collapsed while delivering a lecture to students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the Meghalaya capital when he suffered a cardiac arrest.

"I had met him quite a few times and knew him personally. Not just me, everyone who met him will agree that one thing that touched everyone was his simplicity which got people attached to him," Ganguly told IANS.

The former left-handed batsman is in the national capital to launch Apollo Munich Health Insurance's Dengue Care initiative.

Ganguly, who played 113 Test matches for India, had also received India's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, from Kalam back in 2004. Kalam was president from 2002 to 2007.

"He was the president of the country, a science wizard and what not. See at the end of the day, everyone has to go. And as life would have it, with god's grace, he also had the best death which was with the students at IIM Shillong. He dedicated his life to students," Ganguly added.