DR. VIKRAM SARABHAI - THE RENAISSANCE MAN OF INDIAN SCIENCE
DR.VIKRAM SARABHAI - THE RENAISSANCE MAN OF INDIAN SCIENCE
Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai is known as "The Father of the Indian Space Program". He was Cosmic Ray Scientist, Astrophysicist, and Industrialist.
He was famous for founding Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962 (which was superseded by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969).
Vikram Sarabhai is the Genius who gave us ISRO and the nation's one of most coveted Business Management School IIM, Ahmedabad.
Vikram Sarabhai is known for initiating space research and providing his assistance in the development of nuclear power in India.
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on 12th August 1919 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, and died on 30th December 1971 at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. His body was cremated at Ahmedabad his birthplace. He died due to cardiac arrest aged 52 years.
Vikram Sarabhai was married to Mrinalini a celebrated Indian classical dancer, choreographer, and instructor in September 1942.
Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai
The duo had a son and a daughter from their wedlock. His son Kartikeya is an environmental educator and his daughter Mallika Sarabhai is an Indian classical dancer and film actress.
Mallika Sarabhai - Kutchipudi and Bharata natyam exponent
He had a girlfriend by the name of Kamla Chowdhry (a popular Indian educator) before his marriage to Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai.
Vikram Sarabhai's father Ambalal Sarabhai was an industrialist, philanthropist, and institution builder, and his mother Sarladevi Sarabhai was a homemaker and activist of discarded foreign clothes during the Indian freedom fight.
Many members of the Sarabhai family participated in India's freedom struggle.
Vikram Sarabhai had two brothers and five sisters.
The Sarabhai family is widely known for their contribution to developmental tasks undertaken by the Government of India post its independence.
Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian astronomer and physicist whose visions and work initiated space research in India. He also contributed to the development of nuclear power in the country.
His work was honored with the Padma Bhushan Award in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan Award in 1972 (awarded posthumously). To date, this prolific personality is well-known as the ‘Father of the Indian Space Program’ across the world.
Vikram Sarabhai was a man who was much ahead of his time. In his life, he established several institutions. He also built the foundation upon which India now continues to recognize itself as a global space science authority.
The Sarabhai family was an affluent family in Gujarat and the proud owners of many mills and industries in the state. Ambalal Sarabhai (Vikram’s father) was a leading industrialist who created significant familial wealth during his career.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai family photo
His children participated in a wide range of industrial and philanthropic activities. A significant amount of wealth channels back into society to uplift the disadvantaged.
Vikram Sarabhai continued to practice philanthropy much after his childhood, allowing it to become a core facet of his identity today.
In 1947, Vikram Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory PRL. PRL was one of Vikram’s biggest achievements with a modest beginning at his home.
The primary project taken up by PRL was the ‘RETREAT’. This project emphasized the study and research of cosmic rays. The project also focused on the properties of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. As the organization grew, research niches extend to include radiophysics and theoretical physics (with grants from the Atomic Energy Commission).
On 11 November 1947, PRL was formally established at the M. G. Science Institute in Ahmedabad with support from the Ahmedabad Education Society and Karmkshetra Education Foundation.
Vikram Sarabhai’s colleague Professor Kalpathi Ramakrishna Ramanathan was the first director of the institute.
ARYABHATA :
Sarabhai believed that India, too, could be among the space satellite superpowers of the world. His vision and pioneering work allowed the launch of India’s first satellite, Aryabhata.
India's first spacecraft Aryabhata
Aryabhata’s launch from a Soviet rocket was by the Indian Space Research Organization. The launch was created out of an agreement between the Soviet Union and India, directed by UR Rao, and officially signed in 1972. This agreement allowed the Russian government to use Indian ports for launching vessels and tracking ships. In return, the USSR became a platform for the launching of different Indian satellites.
In addition to being a science enthusiast, Vikram Sarabhai also profoundly loved the arts.
Darpana Academy of Performing Arts is a school for performing arts in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, established by Mrinalini Sarabhai and Vikram Sarabhai in 1949, and it has been directed by their daughter Mallika Sarabhai for the last three decades.
Vikram Sarabhai was also a pioneer of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.
Sarabhai set up the Operations Research Group (ORG) which was the first market research organization in the country.
Vikram was the name of India’s Chandrayaan-2 lander, as well as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), ISRO’s rocket development site in Thiruvananthapuram. The Sarabhai crater on the moon, located in Mare Serenitatis or Sea of Serenity and visible from Earth on the near side, is named after him.
ISRO is all set to launch Chandrayaan-3 during this month (between July 12 and July 19, 2023).
Major Achievements, Innovations, and Inventions by Scientist Vikram Sarabhai
- Sarabhai received his Ph.D. from Cambridge University in England. Following WWII, he relocated to India.
- At the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, he studied cosmic rays under physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman aka C.V. Raman.
- He returned to Cambridge in 1945 to seek a doctorate, and in 1947 he completed his thesis, “Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes.”
- On his return to India, he established the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad.
- In 1947, he founded the Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association.
- Sarabhai is also the founder of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, which was founded in 1962.
Establishing the Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962, which was later renamed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Sarabhai also set up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in southern India.
Rocket Boys :
The story of two extraordinary men, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, who created history while building India's future.
The famous Bollywood Director Nikhil Advani has made a TV series named Rocket Boys.
The story is set around the three crucial decades (1940-60s) in the history of India and how the nation is moving towards being a strong, brave, and independent nation.
Vikram Sarabhai along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists played a major role in the creation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
The establishment of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was one of his greatest achievements.
Vikram Sarabhai completed his postgraduate studies at Cambridge University, where he obtained a Tripos in Natural Sciences in 1940. In 1945, he returned to Cambridge post-world War II and pursued a Ph.D. In 1947, he wrote a thesis “Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes”.
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore wrote the Letter of Recommendation for Vikram Sarabhai for his application to Cambridge University. Tagore wrote: 'He is a young man with a keen interest in science...He comes from a wealthy cultured family...He is a fit and proper person for admission to the University'.
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