Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle (Podcast)
Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle
"Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai?"
"Ji, mein bejhijhak keh sakta hu, saare jahan se accha."
A Spotify original podcast. Born into violence, poverty, and the desolation of colonial exploitation, newly independent India was a nation working hard to find its footing. In a time when food was scarce, the country divided by caste and religion, and a foundation structure yet to be laid... was India ready to take up the space challenge? Did India need a space program? How did the program get its shape that it has today? Who was behind this? How did they manage to build such a big institute in such a short duration of time? What is their story? The story of India's space program is such an unlikely one, with so many uncommon characters, filled with such impossible odds, that it can sometimes seem like science fiction rather than science. This is that story. A story of rags to space narrated in the voice of the renowned commentator and voice artist Harsha Bhogle.
The story of ISRO begins during World War II. When the world was at war, two students at Cambridge University, Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Jehangir Bhabha were forced to return to India. Vikram Sarabhai, on his return, founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and Bhabha worked under the renowned physicist and Nobel laureate C.V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The Prime Minister at that time was Jawaharlal Nehru. All three shared a common belief that science was the answer to India's poverty, struggles, and a way to lead India forward.
Vikram Sarabhai
Homi Jehangir Bhabha
Bhabha was ambitious to start an Indian Nuclear Program. By convincing Nehru, he established the Cosmic Ray Research Unit to begin work on point particles in 1944. He went on to establish the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay in 1945 and the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. All these institutes were the providers of some of the great scientists who made history. Vikram Sarabhai was friends with Nehru too and with his help, the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was established in 1962. An audacious program. Now, India in the late 1900s was very poor and had no infrastructure to take up any big projects. Then, how did INCOSPAR gain momentum?
After World War II, there was the cold war between two of the World's most powerful nations during that time, the USA and the USSR. The space race was one of the major elements of that cold war. Many people believed that the USA would be the first to launch a satellite into space. However, USSR surprised the world by launching its first satellite- Sputnik. The USA desperate to catch up opened the doors of NASA for international collaboration and guess who was the first one to knock at the door? It was none other than Vikram Sarabhai himself. India was clear from the beginning, it was to form no allies in the cold war. The space program collaboration was purely for the research and development of India. India was not to take part in the space race. Now, how did Sarabhai convince NASA to collaborate with India when many other countries like Pakistan, Brazil, and Argentina, all with better space programs were there too!
Vikram Sarabhai's farsightedness, Homi Bhabha's connections, Jawaharlal Nehru's support, and serendipity all worked in India's favor. A fascinating podcast, that explores the early days of ISRO engages listeners by telling them about how a community of fisherman and the priest at Thumba gave up their town and church to the Space Centre, how India's geographic location was advantageous, how India's first sounding rocket was launched, how India worked with the USSR to launch its first satellite Aryabhata (it could've been named Maitri or Jawahar), how its scientists worked in three sheds in Peenya, Bengaluru, how a painting of Tipu Sultan's Army inspired Kalam, what does Star Spangled Banner has to do with any of this, how the idiot box become a good teacher (a major role of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment- SITE in collaboration with NASA), how the first Satellite launching vehicle (SLV III) was finally in the orbit and how did ISRO survive during the national emergency? The journey wasn't easy. It had its twists and turns. However, a great leadership of Satish Dhawan and the perseverance of Kalam took ISRO to a great height.
Lastly, did you know, ISRO had a very little role in putting the first Indian Rakesh Sharma in the space? It was purely a political decision by Indira Gandhi. It was this decision, that gave us the iconic conversation that starts this review. An inspiring podcast.
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