[ninja_to_be]

He mentioned recognizing it as a national day and not necessarily a 'holiday'. There are numerous days when students pay their respect to a great personality and continue with their regular activities. This could be one such day.

Moreover I read somewhere that Dr. Kalam himself wanted people to work harder on his death day and not take a holiday. Not sure if that is misattributed to him, but I'm sure his thoughts would have been similar.

[kartikkumar]

Exactly. That's why I worded it the way that I did. I am aware of Dr. Kalam's quote, requesting that there be no holiday in his recognition, but rather an extra day of work. So my point is absolutely as you put it, to pay respects to a genius.