Wings of Fire
Chapters 17-201. Why did the author decide that the burial of the Devil was essential for the rise of hope and vision’ in DRDL? How did he intend to achieve this?
Abdul Kalam visited DRDL in April 1982 to acquaint himself with the worksite. SL. Bansal, Director of DRDL introduced all employees in the laboratory to Kalam. Meanwhile Anna University in Madras conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Science on Kalam. Anna University recognized his efforts in the field of rocketry. The honorary degree was awarded at a convocation presided over by Prof. Ramanna.
Kalam took over the job at DRDL in June 1982. Very soon, he realized that the laboratory was still haunted by the winding up of the Devil missile. It was essential to the burial of the Devil and rise to hope and vision.
Kalam’s first few months were largely interactive. He explained about the goals to his subordinates. He was astonished to see the determination of the DRDL workforce. They were eager to go ahead.
In order to speed up the pace of R & D activities at DRDL, a decision on vital scientific, technical and technological problems had to be taken quickly. So his major decision was to create a scientist forum. Thus, a high level body called the Missile Technology Committee was formed.
After days of debate and thinking, the long term guided missile development programme was drawn up.
“The great thing in the world is not knowing so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
The determination to win should be our driving force.
Under the chairmanship of Kalam, a Committee was constituted to draw up a clear well defined missile development programme. The estimated expenditure was Rs.390 crore, spread over a period of 12 years.
Development programme take a long time to reach the production stage because of lack of funds. DRDL was known for its pioneering work in the field of anti-tank missiles. They proposed to develop a third generation anti-tank guided missile having ‘fire and forget’ capabilities.
Kalam made a presentation to the government. Dr. Arunachalam encouraged him and answered the question asked by the Defence Minister. Basically, every one was excited at the idea of India having her own missile system. The then Defence Minister R. Venkataraman was ready to allocate the required amount. In fact he suggested that they launch an integrated GMDP, instead of making missiles in phases. This was a very exciting challenge.
2. Describe briefly how the GMDP became the Integrated GMDP or IGMDP.
Abdul Kalam was astonished to see the determination of the DRDL workforce. They were eager to go ahead. Thus, a high level body called the Missile Technology Committee was formed. After days of debate and thinking, the long term guided missile development programme was drawn up.
“The great thing in the world is not knowing so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”
The determination to win should be our driving force
Under the chairmanship of Kalam, a Committee was constituted to draw up a clear well defined missile development programme. The estimated expenditure was Rs.390 crore, spread over a period of 12 years.
Development programme take a long time to reach the production stage because of lack of funds. DRDL was known for its pioneering work in the field of anti-tank missiles. They proposed to develop a third generation anti-tank guided missile having ‘fire and forget’ capabilities.
Kalam made a presentation to the government. Dr. Arunachalam encouraged him and answered the question asked by the Defence Minister. Basically, every one was excited at the idea of India having her own missile system. The then Defence Minister R. Venkataraman was ready to allocate the required amount. In fact he suggested that they launch an integrated GMDP, instead of making missiles in phases. This was a very exciting challenge.
The Defence Minister sanctioned an unprecedented amount of Rs.338 crores. Thus, India’s prestigious integrated guided missile development programme (IGDMP) was born. The DRDL was full of fire and action.
The surface to surface weapon system became Prithvi (earth) and tactical core vehicle was called Trishul (the trident of Shiva). The surface-to-air area defence system was named Akash (sky) and the anti-tank missile project became Nag (cobra). Kalam’s long cherished dream of REX had given Agni (fire).
Dr. Arunachalam launched IGMDP on 27th July, 1983. It was a great event and a large number of scientists, professors, representatives of the armed forces and people from the production centers and inspection authorities were present on this occasion.
The launch of IGMDP was like a bright flash on the Indian scientific firmament. People were now curious to see how India was going to achieve all that was promised.
3. What were the qualities that Dr. Kalam was looking for in the leaders of missile projects?
The launch of IGMDP was like a bright flash on the Indian scientific firmament. People were now curious to see how India was going to achieve all that was promised. The most important task for Kalam was the selection of project directors to lead individual missile projects. DRDL had a large pool of highly talented people but unfortunately egotistical. Kalam wanted to right type of leaders who could visualize the goal and channelise the energies of the team members working at different work centers.
The wrong choice of leaders would jeopardize the entire future of programme. Many of Kalam’s senior colleagues befriend to him at this time. He respected their concerns since he wanted to do something best interest of the organization.
Kalam’s search for someone to lead the Prithvi project eneded with Col. V.J. Sundaram, who belonged to the EME corps of the Indian Army. He had an extraordinary capability to evaluate alternative ways of operation. He would suggest moving forward in new terrains. He knew Col. Sundaram would be the ideal choice.
For Trishul, he wanted some one who had a sound knowledge of electronics and missile warfare. He also wanted him to communicate these complexities to the team in order to promote understanding and support. He found in Commodore SR Mohan, from the Indian Navy, a talent for detail and an almost magical power of persuasion.
Agni was his dream project, and he wanted to select some one who would telerate his occasional meddling while running the project. He selected R.N. Agrawal, an alumnus of MIT, with brilliant academic record. He had been managing the aeronautical test facilities at DRDL.
Due to technological complexities, Akash and Nag were considered as missile of the future. Therefore he selected relatively young Prahalad and N.R. Iyer.
4. How did the author bring about the ‘infusion of young blood’ into the IGMDP? How did this make a difference to the working atmosphere, according to him?
The missile had partners in design, development and production. 12 academic institutions and 30 laboratories like DRDO, CSIR, and ISRO participated. There were more the fifty professors and one hundred research scholars worked on the missile.
Between April-June 1984, Kalam and his team of six members visited many campuses and enlisted young graduates, aspiring students and requested them to participate in the programme. They expected around 300 young engineers to join the laboratory.
India carried out its first nuclear explosion in 1974. We were the sixth country in the world to explode a nuclear device.
Around this time, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. This was followed by widespread violence and riots. A curfew was imposed in the city of Hyderabad.
Mrs. Gandhi’s death was a tremendous loss to the scientific community. When her son Rajiv Gandhi took over, he was able to carry forward the policies of his mother.
Rajiv Gandhi laid the foundation stone for Research Centre Imarat (RCI) on 3rd August, 1985.
The young scientists whom they had recruited changed the dynamics of DRDL. They were quick enough to grasp the importance of their work. The young scientist’s negative attitude changed to positive. Even older scientists were rejuvenated by being a part of a young team.
Kalam encouraged the young scientists. He asked them to present their team’s work. Gradually, an atmosphere of confidence grew. Young scientists started questioning senior colleagues on solid technical issues. The work environment was lively, with a good blend of the experience of the older scientists and the innovation of their younger colleagues. This relationship had created very productive work culture at DRDL.
5. The author attributes rapid and proactive follow-up as an important managerial tactic. Write a paragraph to state your views on how this can make a difference.
After the successful completion, VSSC had to re-organize its resources and redefine its goal. Abdul Kalam was relieved of project activities. He took up the position of Director, Aerospace Dynamics and Design Group. New sites were identified at Vaattiyoorkavu and Valimala where the activities of VSSC were expanded. Fresh planning and analysis, especially of facilities, started. Soon it paved way for now formula and of re-entry experiment (REX), which much later on became Agni.
The work on the project spread fast. The appraisals for nearly 500 scientists became more and more difficult. Kalam had to write confidential reports. Many people thought that he was granting promotion to only those whom he favoured. Kalam tried to be fair judge.
It was difficult to judge an individual. Many people have intention of doing particular job. Many of them do their work in the manner of their convenient, and leave for home in the evening with a sense of satisfaction. They fail to evaluate their performance, only their intensions. Any delay caused is due to reasons beyond their controls.
Kalam, as a young scientist, wanted to more than what he was at the moment. He wanted to learn more, express more. He never used any influence to advance his career. Kalam says, “The key to my motivation has always been to look at how far I had still to go, rather than how far I had come.”
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