New Delhi: On Thursday, President A P J Abdul Kalam said, “I will go with two small suitcases” as he set to leave Rashtrapati Bhawan with an aspiration to see India as a highly-developed country by 2020.

In possibly his last communal function as the state head, Kalam had a suggestion for the countrymen – “don't take gifts that come with a purpose and build families with character and good value system.”

In his speech at the India Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC), Mr. Kalam said, “On the 25th I will leave Rashtrapati Bhawan after having spent five glorious years there. What I have got are two small suitcases. I will go with two small suitcases.”

The declaration that came on a day when polling was held to vote for his successor evoked a huge round of applause.

“I will take the books with me. They are my own books,” said Kalam, who plans to teach at Anna University, Tamil Nadu, after completion of his tenure.

The 75-year-old Scientist-President, who turned philosophic and homesick in turns, remembered how his father had educated him not to accept any presents.

“Yesterday, a well-known person gave me a gift of two pens. I had to return them with unhappiness,” he said, also quoting from the ancient Hindu code of law `Manusmriti' that by accepting gifts the divine light in the person gets extinguished.