As the brain behind the country’s missile arsenal—Agni, Akash, Arjun,Nag,Prithvi, Trishul—Avul Pakir Jainulabedeen Abdul Kalam, scien-tific adviser to thedefence minister and secretary of the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO), can soak in the success and roll in the good times
But the softspoken bachelor-by-compulsion—he did not marry in order to support ahuge family—lives in trademark humility.In two sparsely-furnished rooms in anofficial guest house in New Delhi, writing Tamil poetry, listening to the strains ofBismillah Khan’s shehnai, and cooking himself rasam-vadas, after spending 18 hours atwork to make India’s air, water and land more secure.
With the Light Combat Aircraft poised for launch, later if not sooner, Kalam todaynurses a pet dream: a hyperplane, made in India.But even he knows that the cash-strappedDRDO, in spite of his best efforts to corporatise its operations, cannot afford it. Atleast not now with just over Rs 1,000 crore in its kitty.
So what? An equally pessimistic picture had been painted when the post-graduate diplomaholder in aviation engineering from Madras University took charge as project director ofthe first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. Against all odds, he had propelled India intothe exclusive space club in 1980. So why not again?
