THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: APJ Abdul Kalam was my mentor at ISRO. It was he, who recruited me fresh from the engineering college and I was fortunate enough to work with him for 27 long years. He had a strong conviction that whatever be the reason, the petty, menial jobs should not be entrusted to the suboordinate staffs like peons and attenders. On the contrary, if he had to bring a file to my section, he would have brought it by himself.
It was in 1972 that I joined under him at the DPS4 Solid Propellent stage of SLV4 at the Vikram Sarabhai Service Centre (VSCC). Though he had been very strict to utilise his colleagues’ resources, he had given me sufficient freedom to go ahead with my artistic endeavours as he strongly believed that science and culture should go hand in hand.
Had it not been him, I would not have received the same level of support. Naturally, when he resigned from ISRO I also resigned to go ahead with my artistic endeavours.
He was such a workaholic that even personal tragedies could not stop him from working. I remember him convening a meeting of his colleagues, mainly scientists at the Rocket Club on Keston Road, Vellayambalam on the evening of his father’s death. In fact, we all had the feeling that we could be relaxed at least for a week in his absence. But convening us at Rocket club, he briefed us about our immediate jobs to be finished by his return. Still we were relaxed that he was away for a week. But immediately after the funeral of his father, he returned to Thiruvananthapuram to resume the work he had left halfway. My father and Kalam sir were the two persons who influenced me a lot. His simplicity, love for music and equanimity in stressful situations had always been great influence on me. In the evenings, after 5.30 pm he would not used the official vehicle. If he wanted to go to a music concert or a food joint, he would ask me to take my Lambreta scooter and he would ride pillion. After the concerts he would ask me take him to the Savoy hotel, near Ayurveda college. Being a strict vegetarian, he naturally would order vegetarian food. I was shocked when Captain Lakshmi decided to contest him in the presidential elections as no one could have opposed him.
Soorya Krishnamoorthy