Turning Points (3 page)

We took a ten-minute ride in the craft, which, in keeping with its name, hovered a few centimetres above the ground. I was piloting the vehicle, to the surprise of the visitor. He asked me a few questions about myself, thanked me for the ride and departed. But not before introducing himself – he was Prof. M.G.K. Menon, director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. A week later, I received a call from the Indian Committee for Space Research (ICSR, which became the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO) to attend an interview for the post of rocket engineer.

When I went to Bombay to attend the interview, I was surprised to find Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, who was chairman
of the ICSR, along with Prof. Menon and Saraf, deputy secretary of the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission), on the interview board. I was struck by Prof. Sarabhai’s warmth. He did not probe my existing knowledge and skills; rather his questions were an exploration of the possibilities I was filled with. He was looking at me as if in reference to a larger whole. The entire encounter was for me a moment of truth in which my dream was enveloped by the bigger dream of a bigger person.

The next evening, I was told about my selection. I was appointed as a rocket engineer at the newly formed ISRO in 1962. This is where the greatest event in my life came about – Prof. Satish Dhawan asking me to lead India’s first satellite launch vehicle programme as its project director.

The second turning point was my entry into India’s missile programme in 1982, following my meeting with Dr Raja Ramanna at the Defence Institute of Work Study (DIWS, now Institute of Technology Management) in Mussoorie, which is an institution that trains Services officers in defence systems management, a vast area which requires some expertise. As I had been project director of the SLV-3 programme, I was asked to give a series of lectures at DIWS. I made a presentation on how the first Indian satellite launch vehicle put Rohini into orbit. Dr Ramanna gave a lecture on how he succeeded with India’s first nuclear test in 1974.

After our lectures, both of us travelled to Dehra Dun,
where we had tea with a group of scientists. While we were at Dehra Dun, Dr Ramanna offered me a position as the director of the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad. The DRDL is the mother laboratory for the development of missile systems, and comes under the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). I immediately accepted the offer since I had always wanted space rocket technology to be applied in missile technology. But, my next mission was to persuade my chief, Prof. Dhawan, the ISRO chairman.

Many months went by and many letters were exchanged between ISRO and DRDO and meetings were held in the Secretariat of Defence Organizations and the Department of Space to initiate a mutually convenient course of action. Dr V.S. Arunachalam, scientific adviser to the defence minister, who was then R. Venkataraman, facilitated the discussion between the minister and Prof. Dhawan. Based on these discussions, a decision was taken to appoint me as director, DRDL, in February 1982.

In July 1992, I took over as the scientific adviser to the defence minister and secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development, from Dr Arunachalam. This was the third turning point in my life. In 1993, I was invited by Dr Chenna Reddy, then the governor of Tamil Nadu, to become the vice chancellor of Madras University. I requested the government to approve my appointment at the university, which I intended to pursue after I attained the age of sixty-t
wo. However, the prime minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, who was also defence minister, said that I must continue as scientific adviser as I was engaged in a number of important national programmes. I might add here that I worked with Narasimha Rao over many years. I found Rao very perceptive on defence issues, particularly on the question of building indigenous defence capability. He had a long-term vision of building robust systems for defence application. So I continued as scientific adviser to the defence minister till I was about seventy years of age.

The fourth turning point was the nuclear tests in 1998. There is an interesting story behind these. Let me go back to May 1996. Elections were held that year. I had met Narasimha Rao just a few days before the announcement of the results. He said to me, ‘Kalam, be ready with your team for the nuclear tests. I am going to Tirupati. You wait for my authorization to go ahead with the tests. The DRDODAE teams must be ready for action.’

His visit to Triupati was, of course, to seek God’s blessings for a good result. However, the 1996 election result was quite different from what he had anticipated. The Congress tally came down sharply, to 136 seats. The BJP and its alliance came to power but only for two weeks, led by Vajpayee, before the third front with H.D. Deve Gowda as PM took over. However in the two weeks that the Vajpayee government was there, it tried very hard to carry through the nuclear tests.

It was 9 o’clock at night. I got a call from 7 Race Course Road requesting that I immediately meet the new prime minister and Rao, the outgoing one. Rao asked me to brief Vajpayee on the details of the nuclear programme, so that a smooth handover of this important activity to the new government could take place.

About two years later, Vajpayee returned as PM. On 15 March 1998, around midnight, I got a phone call from Vajpayee. He said he was finalizing the list of ministers and wanted to induct me into his Cabinet. I told him that I needed time to think about it. He asked me to see him the next morning at 9 a.m. So in the middle of the night, I assembled a few of my friends. We debated up to 3 a.m. whether I should join the Cabinet. The general opinion was that since I was fully involved in two missions of national importance and these were in advanced stages and nearing good results, I should not leave them and enter the political system.

The next morning I went to 7 Safdarjung Road, where the PM was staying. He received me in his drawing room and first offered me home-made sweets. I then told him, ‘I and my team are busy with two important programmes. One is readying the Agni missile system and another is bringing to a close the nuclear programme through a series of tests in partnership with the DAE (Department of Atomic Energy). I feel that by involving myself full-time with these two programmes, I will be contributing more to the nation. Please permit me to continue.’

‘I appreciate your feelings, go ahead, God bless you,’ Vajpayee responded. Many things happened after that. The Agni missile system was readied for induction, five nuclear
tests were conducted consecutively, and India became a nuclear weapon state. My declining to accept the Cabinet position enabled me to contribute to two major national programmes that gave spectacular results to the nation.

The fifth turning point was towards the end of 1999, when I was appointed principal scientific adviser (PSA) to the Government of India in the rank of a Cabinet minister. My team included Dr Y.S. Rajan, Dr M.S. Vijayaraghavan, who was a specialist in electronics and information science and had worked with me in TIFAC, and H. Sheridon, my personal secretary who was my staff officer when I was scientific adviser. When I started this assignment, we had no office, but we built the office, thanks to the DRDO, particularly the untiring efforts of K.N. Rai, the chief executive, Civil Works and Estates of DRDO, and Major General R. Swaminathan, chief controller, R&D, at DRDO. The India 2020 vision had been accepted by the government, hence, the office of principal scientific adviser would be a good platform to push the action-oriented plans of that document, I felt. The vision was first presented during the Deve Gowda government. Following that, I.K. Gujral came in as prime minister, and then, in 1998, it was Vajpayee again. All three governments had pushed for implementation of the recommendations. We had an office in the Vigyan Bhavan Annexe. This is a large building with the offices of various commissions of inquiry and a few government departments. It is a quiet place. The adjoining Vigyan Bhavan, of course, is famous as a venue for large national and international
conferences. The annexe is next to the vice president’s residence and a good place to work away from the hustle and bustle of North and South Blocks.

As usual, travel formed a good part of my work schedule. On 30 September 2001 I had a narrow escape in a helicopter crash. The crash took place just as the helicopter was landing at the Bokaro steel plant in Jharkhand. It was a miraculous escape. As soon as I jumped out, I rushed to my pilot and co-pilot and said, ‘Thank you for saving me – God bless you.’ The pilots were almost in tears, but I told them these things happen, all we can do is to find out the problem and solve it. That evening I had five engagements. I had to address audiences which included officials, engineers and staff of the steel plant, and students of some of the schools of Bokaro. The news of the crash had travelled quickly. The national news channels had picked it up too. When I met the children, they seemed shaken. I shook hands with all of them and shared a hymn on courage, which cheered them. It was a simple exhortation.

That same day, there was the tragic air crash in which Madhav Rao Scindia and six others – journalists, his staff and crew members – were killed. These two news reports were heard by my family members at Rameswaram and my friends throughout the country and abroad. They were all extremely anxious to know how I was. I had to speak to my brother – who was not convinced by the news reports – to assure my family that everything was all right.

When I returned to Delhi later that evening, there was an urgent message from the Prime Minister’s Office, requesting that I meet Vajpayee. He received me and enquired about the accident. He was happy to see me hale and hearty. He then told me that he had discussed the India 2020 vision document with industry leaders and the Cabinet and had made an announcement in Parliament for further action on it. But there are a number of hurdles in that action, I told him. It was something I had been thinking about.