Chetan Synopsis

Vikram Sarabhai, a life by,

Amrita Shah

INTRODUCTION

TITLE: VIKRAM SARABHAI, a life AUTHOR: AMRITA SHAH, published by penguin/viking Amrita Shah is a journalist, columnist and writer. She has worked for Imprint and the Time-Life News services. She is currently a contributing editor with the Indian Express. She has also edited magazines like Debonair and Elle and has penned Hype, Hypocrisy and Television in Urban India (1997). Her next venture is a book on Ahmedabad. GENERAL SUBJET MATTER: Vikram Sarabhai, the renaissance man of Indian science, visualized the impossible. Founder of India’s space programme, he dreamed of communication satellites that would educate people at a time when even a modest rocket programme seemed daring. He envisioned research technology that would free Indian industry from foreign dependence, and of a world-class management college that would train managers for the public sector. Born in super-rich Sarabhai family that owned textile mills and later on chemical and pharmaceutical factories, he didn't need to do more than run a family business. He rather became a physicist who got a Cambridge PhD with his work focusing on cosmic rays. Between 1947 and 1971, he built a thriving pharmaceutical business, conducted research into cosmic rays, set up India’s first textile research cooperative, Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA), the first market research organization, Operation research Group (ORG), the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and the dance academy Darpana. He also headed the Atomic Energy Commission and laid the foundations for the world’s first entirely peaceful space programme. He was married to the glamorous classical dancer Mrinalini and closely associated with the most influential figures of that time—C.V. Raman, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Homi Bhabha, Bruno Rossi, Louis Kahn and John Rockefeller III— He

seemed to have led a charmed existence. He was greatly influenced by Gandhji and his ideology.

PRICE OF THE BOOK: Rs.425 and of 248 pages Central Theme: It is a fact that Sarabhai brought science to the layman. He was farsighted, setting up a community service centre to teach the laymen in handling science. He dedicated to the country what he was best at with great passion. He was aware of his strengths and realised that he could make a greater contribution in building institutions of education and technology instead of frittering away his energies in the rough and tumble of political activism. This kind of foresight and maturity coming from a teenager seems unlikely. It is an odd bit to associate with a man credited with writing 80-odd scientific papers, setting up almost 40 institutions, initiating India’s space programme and heading its nuclear energy programme in the ’60s. In his childhood one can see the essential mix of daring, skill and audacity that made his life extraordinary. The seeds of this remarkable life were probably sown in early childhood and fostered by his unusual upbringing. The range of activities he achieved reveals the astonishing diversity of his interests and also the consistency of his approach which involved the use of scientific methods, sound financial plan and a clear nationalistic purpose. These things may be considered as the central theme of the story that drives him to become one of the greatest scientists of India.

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE OF WRITING: Vikram Sarabhai has great influence on the author, Amrita Shah, in her early childhood that leaves a deep impression on her. As a young girl Amrita Shah was fascinated with the multifaceted man that Dr Vikram Sarabhai was. After much rummaging in libraries to read up more on the visionary, she decided that there wasn’t a comprehensive book written on him so she decided to write a biography of Vikram Sarabhai. She has no aversion of money but still she feel the need to clearly state that this is an independent work taken by her for the simple reason to let everyone know about him.

ANALYSIS: Vikram Sarabhai was one of the greatest scientists of India. He is considered as the Father of the Indian space program. Apart from being a scientist, he was a rare combination of an innovator, industrialist and visionary. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmedabad in an affluent family of progressive industrialists. He was one of eight children of Ambalal and Sarla Devi. He had his early education in a private school, “Retreat” run by his parents on Montessori lines. After his matriculation, Vikram Sarabhai proceeded to Cambridge for his college education and took the tripods degree from St. John's College in 1940. When World War II began, he returned home and joined as a research scholar under Sir C. V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. His interest in solar physics and cosmic ray led him to set up many observation stations around the country. He built the necessary equipment with which he took measurements at Bangalore, Pune and the Himalayas. He returned to Cambridge in 1945 and completed his PhD in 1947. Vikram Sarabhai was instrumental in establishing the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad in November 1947. The laboratory was established in a few rooms in M.G. Science Institute of the Ahmedabad Education Society, which was founded by his parents. Subsequently, it got support from the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Atomic Energy. Vikram Sarabhai did research on the time variations of cosmic rays and concluded that meteorological effects could not entirely affect the observed daily variations of cosmic rays. Vikram Sarabhai visualized a new field of research opening up in solar and interplanetary Physics. The year 1957-1958 was designated as International Geo-physical year (IGY). The Indian program for the IGY had been one of the most significant ventures of Sarabhai. It exposed him to the new vistas of space science with the launching in 1957 of Sputnik-I. Subsequently, the Indian National Committee for Space Research was created, of which Vikram Sarabhai became Chairman. With active support from Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, set up the first Rocket Launching station (TERLS) in the country at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the Arabian Coast, as Thumba is very close to the Equator. The first rocket with sodium vapour payload was launched on November 21, 1963. In 1965, the UN General Assembly gave recognition to TERLS as an international facility. After the sudden death of Homi Bhabha in an air crash, Vikram Sarabhai was appointed Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission in May 1966. He wanted the practical application of science to reach the common man. He decided to acquire competence in advance technology for the solution of country’s problems based on technical and economic evaluation of its real resources. He initiated India’s space programme, which today is renowned all over the world. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was awarded with Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Medal in 1962 and Padma Bhushan in 1966. Vikram Sarabhai passed away in his sleep on December 31, 1971. This is a vivid and intimate portrait of a multifaceted genius who died young, but whose vision still drives India’s ambitious space programme and inspires Indians in all walks of life.

PERSONAL REVIEWS: Dynamic, inspiring and representing the idealism of post-independence this is how Dr. Vikram Sarabhai is described. He was a fascinating person, he did a multitude of things. He was a man who dreamt big dreams for science, which was beyond his times. He envisioned the country’s technological research. The book depicts in detail Sarabhai’s formative years in his illustrious family, Tagore’s prediction upon observing the child that “this boy will achieve great things” and Vikram Sarabhai went on to make steam engine, but that was only the start. But his personal life was full of trouble still his resistance to overcome all odd to India’s move towards a nuclear and considered as one of the greatest person to be ever lived. Still personalities like Dr.Abdul kalam recall his name. Dr. Sarabhai is a major figure in the rise of modern India and this book does well to bring out different facets of his personality. This book also showcases Vikram Sarabhai’s personal and professional life through various photographs with eminent person like Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, C.V. Raman, and Homi Bhabha among others. Words used in this book is quite unfamiliar to me, to understand I have to read the sentence twice it might be because I have not read any other book of this author or any others.

Thank you, Chetan Kumar (PGPCS IV)