of an indigenous ship-launched anti-sea-skimmer missile.
The same year, I received an honorary degree of
Doctor of Science from the IIT, Bombay. In the citation read
by Prof. B Nag on the occasion, I was described as “an
inspiration behind the creation of a solid technological
base from which India’s future aerospace programmes can
be launched to meet the challenges of the twenty-first
century”. Well, perhaps Prof. Nag was only being polite, but
I do believe that India will enter the next century with its own
satellite in geo-stationary orbit 36,000 km away in space,
positioned by its own launch vehicle. India will also become
a missile power. Ours is a country with tremendous vitality.
Even though the world may not see its full potential or feel
its full power, no one dare ignore it any more.
On 15 October, I turned sixty. I looked forward to
retirement and planned to open a school for the less
privileged children. My friend, Prof. P Rama Rao, who was
heading the Department of Science and Technology in the
Government of India, even struck up a partnership with me
to establish what he called the Rao-Kalam school. We were
unanimous in our opinion that carrying out certain missions
and reaching certain milestones, however important they
may be or however impressive they might appear to be, is
not all there is to life. But we had to postpone our plan as
neither of us was relieved from our post by the Government
of India.
It was during this period that I decided to put down my
memoirs and express my observations and opinions on
certain issues.
The biggest problem Indian youth faced, I felt, was a
lack of clarity of vision, a lack of direction. It was then that I
decided to write about the circumstances and people who
made me what I am today; the idea was not merely to pay
tribute to some individuals or highlight certain aspects of
my life. What I wanted to say was that no one, however
poor, underprivileged or small, need feel disheartened
about life. Problems are a part of life. Suffering is the
essence of success. As someone said:
God has not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our life through;
God has not promised
Sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
Peace without pain.
I will not be presumptuous enough to say that my life can
be a role model for anybody; but some poor child living in
an obscure place, in an underprivileged social setting may
find a little solace in the way my destiny has been shaped. It
could perhaps help such children liberate themselves from
the bondage of their illusory backwardness and
hopelessness. Irrespective of where they are right now, they
should be aware that God is with them and when He is with
them, who can be against them?
But God has promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labour
Light for the way.
It has been my observation that most Indians suffer
unnecessary misery all their lives because they do not know
how to manage their emotions. They are paralysed by
some sort of a psychological inertia. Phrases like ‘the next
best alternative’, ‘the only feasible option or solution’, and
‘till things take a turn for the better’ are commonplace in our