When a baby boy was born on the 12th of August 1919 into an influential family in Ahmedabad, scarcely did anyone think that he would chart the course of his motherland in a world beyond the confines of our planet. The baby grew to a great visionary who continues to remain, 43 years after an untimely exit, as an invisible presence. Whenever we watch TV programs in our living rooms or when a rocket takes off from our spaceport at Sriharikota, we thankfully sense his presence. Yes, we are talking of Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, the founding-father of Indian space program. He was the sixth of eight children born to Ambalal Sarabhai and Sarla Devi who had a hand in most social, cultural and industrial activities in Ahmedabad. Vikram evinced an early affinity towards mathematics and physics. On completion of his Secondary School education in Ahmedabad, the sixteen-year old boy proceeded to the St. John’s College, Cambridge in 1935.
After getting....
