Abdul Kalam's house was on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram in the former Madras state.
2. Dinamani could be the name of a newspaper because Abdul Kalam tried to trace the stories of the Second World War, which his brother-in-law told him, in the headlines in Dinamani.
3. Abdul Kalam had three close friends in school — Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasam. Ramanandha Sastry took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father; Aravindan started a business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims and Sivaprakasam became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.
4. The Second World War led to the suspension of the train-halt at Rameswaram station. As a result, newspapers had to be bundled up and thrown out from the moving train. This forced Kalam's cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in Rameswaram, to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles. Abdul Kalam took up this position and earned his first wages in the process.
5. Yes, he had earned some money when he started helping his cousin. When the Second World War broke out, there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds in the market. He collected the seeds and sold them at a provision shop on Mosque Street. Usually, a day's collection earned him one anna.