Prajavani: F C Kohli--Bheeshma of Software Industry

For those of you who can read Kannada, my tribute to F C Kohli appeared in Prajavani http://t.co/8lEEIRUNeo

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ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ: ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಉದ್ಯಮದ ಭೀಷ್ಮ

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 ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ: ಎನ್. ವಿಶಾಖ

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·         Wed, 03/26/2014 - 01:00

ಫಕೀರ್‌ಚಂದ್ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ೧೯ರಂದು ೯೦ ವರ್ಷ ತುಂಬಿತು. ಪ್ರತ್ಯಕ್ಷವಾಗಿ ಅಥವಾ ಪರೋಕ್ಷವಾಗಿ ಹಲವು ಭಾರತೀಯರ ಮನಮುಟ್ಟಿದವರು ಅವರು. ಅಂಥ ಭಾರತೀಯರಿಗೆಲ್ಲಾ ಇದು ಸಂಭ್ರಮದ ಸಂದರ್ಭ.

ತಜ್ಞರು, ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಕೊಡುಗೆಯನ್ನು ವಿಧವಿಧವಾಗಿ ವರ್ಣಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ಭಾರತೀಯ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಉದ್ಯಮದ ಭೀಷ್ಮ ಎಂದೇ ಅವರನ್ನು ಬಣ್ಣಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ೧೯೭೪ರಿಂದ ೧೯೯೬ರ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಟಾಟಾ ಕನ್ಸಲ್ಟೆನ್ಸಿ ಸರ್ವಿಸಸ್ (ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್) ಕಂಪೆನಿ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಿತವಾಗಿ ರೂಪುಗೊಳ್ಳಲು ಕಾರಣರಾದ ಯೋಜನಾಚತುರ, ದೂರದೃಷ್ಟಿಯುಳ್ಳ ಪರಿಣತ. ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ೧0,೦೦೦ ಕೋಟಿ ಡಾಲರ್ ವಹಿವಾಟಿನ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಉದ್ದಿಮೆಯು ತಲೆ ಎತ್ತಲು ಅಡಿಪಾಯ ಹಾಕಿದ ದಿಗ್ಗಜ. ಅವರ ಗರಡಿ­ಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪಳಗಿದವರು ಯಶಸ್ವಿ ಕಂಪೆನಿಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿದರೆಂಬುದು ಹೆಗ್ಗಳಿಕೆ. ಕುಶಲ ಕೈಗಾರಿಕೆಯಷ್ಟೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಗೆ ಯಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ಉದ್ಯಮಗಳ ಸ್ವರೂಪ ನೀಡಿದ ಅವರನ್ನು ‘ಐಟಿ ಸೇವೆಗಳ ಹೆನ್ರಿ ಫೋರ್ಡ್’ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದು.

ಕುಶಲ ಯಂತ್ರಗಾರಿಕೆ ಎನಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಯ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ‘ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ಫ್ಯಾಕ್ಟರಿ’ಯ ಹಂತಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಂಡೊಯ್ದು, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಅದು ಹಲವು ಬಗೆಯ ಸಾಂಸ್ಥಿಕ ಬದಲಾವಣೆಗೆ ಕಾರಣರಾದವರು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ.

ಈ ಮೇಲಿನ ಗುಣವಿಶೇಷಣಗಳೆಲ್ಲಾ ಸತ್ಯವಾದರೂ ಫಕೀರ್ ಚಂದ್ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವ ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಡಲು ಈ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯಷ್ಟೇ ಸಾಲದು. ಮೊದಲು ಬಿಸಿನೆಸ್ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತನಾಗಿ, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ನ ಉಪಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷನಾಗಿ ನಾನು ಅವರ ಜೊತೆ ಎರಡು ದಶಕಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಒಡನಾಟ ನಡೆಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಒಂದೊಂದೂ ಭೇಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿತ್ವದ ಹೊಸ ಮುಖಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾಣಿಸುತ್ತಾ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಸೋಜಿಗಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಬಂದವರು ಅವರು.

ಕಡಿಮೆ ಮಾತಾಡುವ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿ. ಆದರೆ ಆಡುವ ಒಂದೊಂದೂ ನುಡಿ ಅಳೆದು ತೂಗಿದಂತೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ವಿಷಯದ ಕುರಿತು ಹೇಳು­ವಾಗ ಅವರು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಗಹನವಾಗಿ ವಿಚಾರ ಮಾಡಿರು­ತ್ತಾರೆ. ಬಳಸುವ ಪ್ರತಿ ಪದವನ್ನು ಎಚ್ಚರಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಆರಿಸಿಕೊ­ಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುವ ಹೊಸಬರು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಈ ಮಾತಿನ ಹಾಗೂ ಕಾರ್ಯವೈಖರಿಯ ಲಯವನ್ನು ಭಂಗಪಡಿಸಲು ಯತ್ನಿಸಿ­ದ್ದುಂಟು. ಅವರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಆ ಯತ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಫಲರಾಗುವಂತೆ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ ನೀಡಿದ ಪ್ರತಿಭೆ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ.

ಪೂರ್ವಸಿದ್ಧತೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಯಾರಾದರೂ ವಾದಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿದರೆ ಅದನ್ನು ಅವರು ಸಹಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಸಿದ್ಧರಾಗಿ ಬರುವಂತೆ ನಿರ್ದಾಕ್ಷಿಣ್ಯವಾಗಿ ತಿದ್ದುತ್ತಾರೆ. ೧೯೯೬ರಿಂದ ೨೦೦೯ರವರೆಗೆ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಸಿದ್ದು ಎಸ್.ರಾಮದೊರೈ. ತಮ್ಮ ನಂತರ ಆ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿ ನಿರ್ವಹಿಸಲು ಅವರನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಖುದ್ದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ.

‘ದಿ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್ ಸ್ಟೋರಿ ಅಂಡ್ ಬಿಯಾಂಡ್’ ಎಂಬ ತಮ್ಮ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಮದೊರೈ ಹೀಗೆ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ: ‘ಹೊರನೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ಒರಟಾಗಿ ಕಾಣುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ, ಆಂತರ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೃದು ಸ್ವಭಾವದವರು. ತಮ್ಮ ವಿಚಾರಗಳನ್ನು ಯಾರೇ ಆದರೂ ಸಕಾರಣವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಿದರೆ, ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಪೂರಕವಾದ ಸಿದ್ಧತೆಯಿಂದ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದರೆ, ಅವರು ಕೇಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಒಪ್ಪುವಂಥ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಅದಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ’.

ಮೆಮೋ ಕಳುಹಿಸಿ, ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ವಿಷಯದ ಕುರಿತು ಕ್ರಮವಾದ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಸುವುದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಅನುಸರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಕ್ರಮ. ಭಾರತದ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್‌ ಹಾಗೂ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ಗೆ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಕೊಡುಗೆ ಏನು ಎಂಬುದು ಉತ್ತಮ ರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ದಾಖಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅವರ ಕುರಿತು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಜನರಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುವ ಕೆಲವು ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ನಾನು ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಅವರೂ ನಿಯಮಿತವಾಗಿ ಈ ವಿಷಯವನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾ ಇರುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಐಟಿ ಸೇವೆಗಳ ಯಶಸ್ಸನ್ನು ದೇಶದ ಬಹುತೇಕ ಜನ ಬೆರಗುಗಣ್ಣಿನಿಂದ ನೋಡಿದ್ದೇ ಹೆಚ್ಚು (ಆರ್‌ಬಿಐ ಪ್ರಕಾರ 2012–13ರಲ್ಲಿ ರಫ್ತು ಮಾಡಿದ ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್‌ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ 7000 ಕೋಟಿ ಡಾಲರ್‌). ಸುಮಾರು ಒಂದು ದಶಕದ ಹಿಂದೆಯೇ ಕೆಲವು ರಾಜಕಾರಣಿಗಳು ದೇಶವನ್ನು ‘ಐಟಿ ಸೂಪರ್‌ಪವರ್‌’ ಎಂದು ಅತಿಶಯೋಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಬಣ್ಣಿಸಿದರು. ವಾಸ್ತವದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದು ಅಕಾಲಿಕ ಹೇಳಿಕೆಯಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್‌ಗೆ ಉದ್ಯಮದ ಸ್ವರೂಪ ನೀಡಿದ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಇಂಥ ಹೇಳಿಕೆಗಳಿಂದ ದೂರವೇ ಇದ್ದರು. ಹಾರ್ಡ್‌ವೇರ್‌ ಉದ್ಯಮ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿಯಾಗದೆ ಜಾಗತಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ನಕಾಶೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾರತ ಉತ್ತಮ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಕಂಡುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಸತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಅವರು ಪ್ರತಿಪಾದಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವು ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಧೋರಣೆಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೈಕ್ರೊ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಾನಿಕ್ಸ್‌ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿಗೆ ಚಾಲನೆ ಸಿಗಲಿಲ್ಲ.

ಇವತ್ತು ಮೈಕ್ರೊಚಿಪ್‌ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ಹಾಗೂ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಣೆಗಳು ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಾನಿಕ್‌ ಉದ್ಯಮ ಮೌಲ್ಯದ ಶೇ ೮೦ರಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣೀಭೂತವಾಗುತ್ತಿವೆ. ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಚಿಪ್‌ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ಹಾಗೂ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಣೆಗಳ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇಕಾದ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಐಐಟಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇತರ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್‌ ಕಾಲೇಜುಗಳು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿದರೆ ಭಾರತ ಮತ್ತೆ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಾನಿಕ್‌ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂಚೂಣಿಗೆ ಬರಬಹುದು ಎಂದು ಪ್ರತಿಪಾದಿಸಿದರು. ಇದರ ಫಲಿತವಾಗಿ ಭಾರತ ಚಿಪ್ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸ ಹಾಗೂ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಣೆಗಳ ನೆಲೆವೀಡಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆದಿದೆ. ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರತಿವರ್ಷ ಅತಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದ ಇಂಟೆಗ್ರೇಟೆಡ್ ಸರ್ಕಿಟ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ವಿನ್ಯಾಸಗೊಳಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಕನಿಷ್ಠ ೬೦೦೦ ಎಂ.ಟೆಕ್ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞರು (ಈಗಿನ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಕ್ಕಿಂತ ೫ ಪಟ್ಟು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ನಾವು ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕು) ಹೊಮ್ಮಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಒತ್ತಿಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆಗ ಮಾತ್ರ ಈ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮುಂಚೂಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಇಸ್ರೇಲ್‌ಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶ ಸರಿಸಮಾನವಾಗಿ ನಿಲ್ಲಬಹುದು ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸುಧಾರಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬುದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ತುಡಿತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಕೆಲವೇ ಕೆಲವು ಐಟಟಿಗಳು ಸಾಕಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ, ಈಗ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಕನಿಷ್ಠ ೫೦ ಕಾಲೇಜುಗಳಿಗೆ ಐಐಟಿ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟದ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ನೀಡುವ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯವಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ದಶಕಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಅವರು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದರು. ಆ ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಕಿವಿಗೊಟ್ಟ ಮಹಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರವು ಅಂಥ ಕಾಲೇಜುಗಳನ್ನು ಗುರ್ತಿಸಿ, ಮೇಲ್ದರ್ಜೆಗೇರಿಸುವ ಯೋಜನೆ ರೂಪಿಸುವ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಅವರಿಗೇ ವಹಿಸಿತು.

ಈ ಸವಾಲನ್ನು ಸಮರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿದ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ, ಕಾಲೇಜುಗಳನ್ನು ಸುಧಾರಿಸಲು ಏನೇನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಣಾತ್ಮಕ ವರದಿ ನೀಡಿ ಸುಮ್ಮನಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಪುಣೆಯ ಕಾಲೇಜ್ ಆಫ್ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್‌ನ (ಸಿಒಇಪಿ) ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟ ಸುಧಾರಣಾ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕ ಮಂಡಳಿಯ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರಾಗಿ ಸಕ್ರಿಯವಾಗಿ ತೊಡಗಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಎಂ.ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯ, ಸಿ.ಕೆ.ಎನ್.ಪಟೇಲ್, ಥಾಮಸ್ ಕೈಲಾತ್, ಹತೀಮ್ ತ್ಯಾಬ್‌ಜೀ ಮೊದಲಾದ ದಿಗ್ಗಜರ ಮಾತೃಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ‘ಸಿಒಇಪಿ’. ಆದರೂ ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಈ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಕಾಲೇಜು ತನ್ನ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟವನ್ನು ಬಹಳ­ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡಿತ್ತು. ೧೫೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳಷ್ಟು ಹಳೆಯದಾದ ಈ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಐಐಟಿ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟದ ಪದವಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಸ್ನಾತಕೋತ್ತರ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ದೊರೆಯುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ನಿರ್ದೇಶನದ ಫಲ. ಈಗ ಅನೇಕ ಪರಿಣತರು ಈ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ಶ್ಲಾಘಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣದ ಜೊತೆ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ನಂಟು ಕೆಲ ದಶ­ಕಗಳಷ್ಟು ಹಳೆಯದು. ಮುಂಬೈನ ‘ವಿಜೆಟಿಐ’ಯ ಆಗಿನ ಪ್ರಾಂಶು­ಪಾಲರಾದ ಡಾ. ಪಿ.ಕೆ.ಕೇಳ್ಕರ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ೧೯೫೦ರ ದಶಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಪರಿಚಿತರಾದರು. ಆಗಲೇ ಕಂಟ್ರೋಲ್ ಸಿಸ್ಟಂ ಕುರಿತ ಒಂದು ಕೋರ್ಸನ್ನು ಎಂ.ಇ ದರ್ಜೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಳವಡಿಸಲಾಯಿತು.
ಆ ಕೋರ್ಸ್ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸಿದ ಭಾರತದ ಮೊಟ್ಟ ಮೊದಲ ಕಾಲೇಜು ಎಂಬ ಅಗ್ಗಳಿಕೆ ‘ವಿಜೆಟಿಐ’ಗೆ ಸಂದಿತು. ಟಾಟಾ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಿಕ್ ಕಂಪೆನಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಪುರುಸೊತ್ತು ಸಿಕ್ಕಾಗಲೆಲ್ಲಾ ಆ ಕಾಲೇಜಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಪಾಠ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ಮುಂಬೈ ಹಾಗೂ ಕಾನ್ಪುರದಲ್ಲಿ ಐಐಟಿಗಳನ್ನು ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸುವ ಹೊಣೆಗಾರಿಕೆ ಕೇಳ್ಕರ್ ಅವರ ಹೆಗಲಿಗೆ ಬಿತ್ತು. ಆಗ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಕೇಳ್ಕರ್ ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ ಸಂಪರ್ಕ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಗಟ್ಟಿಗೊಂಡಿತು. ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್ ಪ್ರತಿನಿಧಿಯಾಗಿ ವಿದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಕೆಲವು ಪ್ರತಿಭಾವಂತರನ್ನು ಗುರುತಿಸಿ, ಅಂಥವರನ್ನು ಐಐಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕರಾಗಿ ಪಾಠ ಮಾಡಲು ಕರೆತಂದರು. ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಸೈನ್ಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊದಲ ಎಂ.ಟೆಕ್‌ ಶುರುವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಕಾನ್ಪುರ ಐಐಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ. ಐಐಟಿ ಪ್ರೊಫೆಸರ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಕರೆಸಿ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ತರಬೇತಿ ಕೊಡಿಸಿದ್ದೇ ಅಲ್ಲದೆ ಕೆಲವು ಯೋಜನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಅವರಿಂದ ಸಲಹೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಪಡೆದರು. ಅಕಾಡೆಮಿಕ್‌ ವಲಯದ ಜೊತೆ ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ನ ಬಲವಾದ ಈ ಬಾಂಧವ್ಯ ಇಂದಿಗೂ ಮುಂದುವರಿದಿದೆ.

ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳೆದ ಒಂದು ದಶಕದಿಂದ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಸಂವಹನ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ (ಐಸಿಟಿ) ಏರುಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಆದರೂ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ತೃಪ್ತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ. ವಸ್ತುಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟವಾಗಿ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಭಾರತದ್ದೇ ಆದ ‘ಇಂಡಿಕ್‌ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟಿಂಗ್‌’ (ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟಿಂಗ್‌)  ರೂಪಿಸುವುದು ಅವರ ಕನಸಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಅದು ನನಸಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್‌ ಬಾರದೆ ತಂತಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಾದೇಶಿಕ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲೇ ವ್ಯವಹರಿಸುವ ಶೇ 90ರಷ್ಟು ಜನರು ಡಿಜಿಟಲ್‌ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಕಂದಕವನ್ನು ದಾಟಬಲ್ಲರು ಎಂದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಪದೇಪದೇ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನಿಜವಾದ ಐಟಿ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿಯ ಕನಸು ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗ ನನಸಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂಬುದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಅಭಿಮತ.

ದೇಶಿ ಹಾಗೂ ವಿದೇಶಿ ಮಳಿಗೆಗಳು ದೈತ್ಯಶಕ್ತಿಗಳಂತೆ ಮಾರುಕಟ್ಟೆಗೆ ಇಳಿದಾಗಿನಿಂದ ಸಣ್ಣ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದ ಸಗಟು ಮಾರಾಟಗಾರರು ಹೋರಾಡಬೇಕಾದ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ಈ ಕುರಿತು ಈಗಲೂ ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಅಂಥ ಸಣ್ಣ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಮೂಲಕ ಚಾಣಾಕ್ಷ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರ ಮಾಡುವ ದಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಹುಡುಕಬಹುದು ಎಂದು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಚಿಂತಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ಆದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಂಥ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಸವಾಲಿಗೂ ದೇಸಿ ವ್ಯಾಪಾರಿಗಳು ಎದೆಗೊಡಬಲ್ಲರು ಎಂದು ಪರಿಹಾರ ಸೂಚಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಬಹುತೇಕರಿಗೆ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ನಾಯಕರೆಂದೇ ಪರಿಚಿತರು. ಆದರೆ ಕೆಲವರಿಗಷ್ಟೇ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಉದ್ಯಮಕ್ಕೂ ಅವರು ಕೊಡುಗೆ ಉತ್ಕೃಷ್ಟವಾದದ್ದು ಎಂದು ಗೊತ್ತು. ‘ಐಇಇಇ’ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಫೆಲೊ ಆಗಿ ಅವರು ಇರುವುದು ಐ.ಟಿ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿನ ಸಾಧನೆಯಿಂದಾಗಿ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಪವರ್ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರಿಂಗ್ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸಿದ ಕಾಣಿಕೆಯಿಂದ. ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ಗೆ 1969ರಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರುವ ಮುನ್ನ ಟಾಟಾ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಿಕ್ ಕಂಪೆನೀಸ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ(ಈಗಿನ ಟಾಟಾ ಪವರ್) ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ದಶಕ ಕಾಲ ಅವರು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಚೀಫ್ ಲೋಡ್ ಡಿಸ್‌ಪ್ಯಾಚರ್ ಆಗಿ ಮುಂಬೈನಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಿರ, ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟದ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಪೂರೈಕೆಯನ್ನು ಅಡೆತಡೆ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಶ್ರೇಯಸ್ಸು ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಲ್ಲಬೇಕು. ಈ ಯತ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರು ಮುಂಬೈ ನಗರವು ನ್ಯೂಯಾರ್ಕ್‌ಗೆ ಸರಿಸಮಾನವಾಗಿ ಇರುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡಿದರು. 1960ರ ದಶಕದ ಮಧ್ಯಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ನಾಯಕತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಟಾಟಾ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಿಕ್‌ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆಯೊಂದನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟಿತು. ‘ಲೋಡ್‌ ಡಿಸ್‌ಪ್ಯಾಚ್‌’ಗೆ ಡಿಜಿಟಲ್‌ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಿ ವಿಶ್ವದಲ್ಲೇ ಮೂರನೆಯ ಹಾಗೂ ಏಷ್ಯಾದಲ್ಲೇ ಮೊದಲ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಇಟ್ಟಿತು.

‘Economics of longdistance extra high voltage transmission lines’ ವಿಷಯ ಕುರಿತು ಅವರು ಮಂಡಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಬಂಧ 1963ರಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಅಪಾರ ಮೆಚ್ಚುಗೆ ಗಳಿಸಿತು. ಪವರ್‌ ಗ್ರಿಡ್‌ ಕಾರ್ಪೊರೇಷನ್‌ ಆಫ್‌ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ ಎಂಬ ಬಹುದೊಡ್ಡ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಕಂಪೆನಿಗೆ ಈ ಪ್ರಬಂಧವೇ ಬುನಾದಿ.
ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂದಿನ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾತನಾಡುವಾಗ, ಅವರು ಪಟ್ಟ ಕಷ್ಟಗಳು ಅನಾವರಣಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತವೆ. ಪ್ರಸರಣ ಹಾಗೂ ವಿತರಣೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಶೇ 35ರಿಂದ ಶೇ 50ರವರೆಗಿನ ನಷ್ಟವನ್ನು ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡರೆ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಿಟ್ಟು ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಸಮರ್ಪಕ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯಿಂದ ನಷ್ಟದ ಪ್ರಮಾಣವನ್ನು ಶೇ 10ರಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಇಳಿಸಬಹುದು ಎಂಬುದು ಅವರ ವಾದ. ಟಾಟಾ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಿಕ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ನಷ್ಟದ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ ಶೇ 7–8ರಷ್ಟು ಮಾತ್ರ ಇತ್ತೆಂಬ ಅವರ ಮಾತು ವಾಸ್ತವದಲ್ಲಿ ಸತ್ಯವೆಂಬುದಕ್ಕೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿ ಹಿಡಿಯುತ್ತದೆ.

‘ಪ್ರಜ್ಞಾವಂತಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಯೋಚಿಸಿ, ಸೂಕ್ತ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನವನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು. ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಬಜೆಟ್‌ ಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಮಾಡಿದಲ್ಲಿ ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಈಗ ಪೂರೈಕೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್‌ಗಿಂತ ದುಪ್ಪಟ್ಟು ಪ್ರಮಾಣವನ್ನು ಒದಗಿಸುವುದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿದೆ, ಅದೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚುವರಿ ಬಂಡವಾಳ ತೊಡಗಿಸದೆ’ ಎಂದು ಅವರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. 

ಆಚರಣೆಗೆ ತರಲಾಗುವಂಥ ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನ್ನಷ್ಟೇ ಚರ್ಚಿಸುವ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ, ಈ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನಲ್ಲೂ ಐಐಟಿ ಬಾಂಬೆಯ ತರುಣ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್‌ಗಳ ಜೊತೆ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್‌ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಯ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸಗಳ ಕುರಿತು ವಿಚಾರ ವಿನಿಮಯ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ವಿದ್ಯುತ್‌ ವಲಯ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಗೆ ಅಗತ್ಯ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸುವ ಸಲಹಾ ಸಮೂಹವಾಗಿ ಆ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್‌ಗಳು ರೂಪುಗೊಳ್ಳಲು ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೇರಕಶಕ್ತಿ ಇದ್ದಂತೆ.

‘ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್‌ಮೆಂಟ್‌ ಕನ್ಸಲ್ಟೆನ್ಸಿ’ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಪರಿಚಯಿಸಿದವರೂ ಅವರೇ. ಟಿಸಿಎಸ್‌ನ ಮೊದಲ ಅನೇಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳು ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್‌ಮೆಂಟ್‌ ಕೇಂದ್ರಿತವೇ ಆಗಿದ್ದವು. ‘ಒಂದು ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ವಿಶ್ವದರ್ಜೆಯ ಮ್ಯಾನೇ­­ಜ್‌­ಮೆಂಟ್‌ ಕನ್ಸಲ್ಟಿಂಗ್‌ ಕಂಪೆನಿಯನ್ನೂ ಭಾರತ­ದಲ್ಲಿ ರೂಪಿಸಬಹುದಾಗಿತ್ತು ಎಂಬುದು ನನ್ನ ಮಹತ್ವಾ­ಕಾಂಕ್ಷೆ’ ಎಂದು ಅವರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಐಟಿ ಉದ್ದಿಮೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ ಸಮಾಜಮುಖಿ ಕೆಲಸ­ಗಳು ಹಲವು. ಭಾರತರತ್ನ ಸರ್ ಎಂ.ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯ ಅವರಂ­ತೆಯೇ ಅವರನ್ನೂ ‘ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್‌ಗಳ ಎಂಜಿನಿ­ಯರ್  ಎಂದು ನಿಸ್ಸಂದೇಹವಾಗಿ ಕರೆಯಲು ಇಷ್ಟು ಸಾಕು.

ಈಗಲೂ ಕಾರ್ಯವ್ಯಸನಿಯಾಗಿಯೇ ಉಳಿದಿರುವ ಅವರಿಗೆ 90ರ ಹರೆಯದಲ್ಲೂ ನಿವೃತ್ತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಇಲ್ಲ. ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಹಾಗೂ ಅದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ತಳಕು ಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗಳಿಂದ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಹರಿಸುವ ದಾರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಈಗಲೂ ಅವರು ಹುಡುಕುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ!

ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಇಡೀ ದೇಶ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಪಡಬಹುದಾದ ಬೌದ್ಧಿಕ ಸಂಪತ್ತು. ಅವರೂ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರಯ್ಯನವರಂತೆ ದೀರ್ಘಾಯುಷಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಾಳಲಿ ಎಂಬುದು ನಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಹಾರೈಕೆ.

ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗೆ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಪರಿಹಾರ
ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಇರುವುದೇ ಹಾಗೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆ ಎದುರಾದರೂ ಅದರಿಂದ ವಿಮುಖರಾಗದೆ, ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನದ ಮೂಲಕ ಪರಿಹಾರ ಹುಡುಕುವುದು ಅವರ ಜಾಯಮಾನ.

ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ: ದೇಶದ ವಯಸ್ಕರ ಅನಕ್ಷರತೆಯ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ ಶೇ 34ರಷ್ಟಿದೆ ಎಂದು 2೦೦1ರ ಜನಗಣತಿಯಿಂದ ಗೊತ್ತಾದಾಗ ತಮ್ಮ ಸಹೋದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳಾದ ಪಿ.ಎನ್.ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಕೇಶವ್ ನೂರಿ ಅವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಈ ಸಮಸ್ಯೆಗೆ ಪರಿಹಾರ ರೂಪಿಸಿದರು. ಕಲಿಕೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಅರಿಯುವ ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯೆಯನ್ನು ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಜನಮುಖಿಯಾಗಿಸಲು ಹೊಸತನದ ಬೋಧನಾ ಮಾರ್ಗವನ್ನು ಅವರು ಸೂಚಿಸಿದರು. ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಆಧಾರಿತ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತಾ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜ್‌ಗೆ ಅದೇ ನಾಂದಿ. ಈ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜ್‌ನ ಬೋಧನೆಯಿಂದ 4೦ ಗಂಟೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರು ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ಯಾವುದೇ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅಕ್ಷರಸ್ಥರಾಗಬಹುದಿತ್ತು, ಅದೂ ತಲಾ 1೦೦ ರೂಪಾಯಿಯಷ್ಟೇ ಕಡಿಮೆ ವೆಚ್ಚದಲ್ಲಿ. ಈ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜನ್ನು ಅನುಷ್ಠಾನಗೊಳಿಸಲು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದ ಅವರು, ಇಂಟೆಲ್ 486 ನಂಥ ಹಳೆಯ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಮರುಬಳಕೆ ಮಾಡಿದರೂ ಸಾಕು ಎಂದು ಸಲಹೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟರು. ಅನಿಮೇಟೆಡ್ ಗ್ರಾಫಿಕ್ಸ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಅಶರೀರವಾಣಿಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವರ್ಣಮಾಲೆಯನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಸಹಿತ ಮನದಟ್ಟು ಮಾಡಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜ್ ಅದು. ಕಲಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಸರಳಗೊಳಿಸುವುದರ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯನ್ನೂ ಕೆರಳಿಸುವಂಥ ಉಪಾಯಗಳು ಈ ಪ್ಯಾಕೇಜ್‌ನಲ್ಲಿವೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿ ಜಾರಿಗೆ ತಂದರೆ ಐದು ವರ್ಷದ ಅವಧಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶೇ 9೦ರಷ್ಟು ವಯಸ್ಕ ಅಕ್ಷರಸ್ಥರನ್ನು ದೇಶಕ್ಕೆ ನೀಡುವುದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಎಂದಿನ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ ಬೋಧನಾ ಕ್ರಮ ಅನುಸರಿಸಿದರೆ ಈ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದ ಯಶಸ್ಸು ಸಾಧಿಸಲು 3೦ ವರ್ಷಗಳೇ ಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತವೆ.

ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟುವುದರಲ್ಲೂ ಸಮರ್ಥವಾಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಸೊಸೈಟಿ ಆಫ್ ಇಂಡಿಯಾ, ನಾಸ್ಕಾಂ, ಮ್ಯಾನುಫ್ಯಾಕ್ಚರರ್ಸ್ ಅಸೋಸಿಯೇಷನ್ ಆಫ್ ಇನ್ಫರ್ಮೇಷನ್ ಟೆಕ್ನಾಲಜಿ, ಐಇಇಇ (ಇನ್‌ಸ್ಟಿಟ್ಯೂಟ್ ಆಫ್ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟಿಕಲ್ ಅಂಡ್ ಎಲೆಕ್ಟ್ರಾನಿಕ್ಸ್ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್ಸ್), ಏಷ್ಯನ್- ಒಸಿಯಾನಿಯನ್ ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟಿಂಗ್ ಇಂಡಸ್ಟ್ರಿ ಆರ್ಗನೈಸೇಷನ್ (ಎಎಸ್‌ಒಸಿಐಒ) ಮೊದಲಾದ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಹಾಗೂ ವಿಕಾಸದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ದಣಿವರಿಯದ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ನಾಯಕತ್ವದ ಪಾತ್ರವಿದೆ. ಸುಮಾರು ಐದು ಲಕ್ಷ ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್‌ಗಳನ್ನು ಸದಸ್ಯರಾಗಿ ಹೊಂದಿರುವ, ವಿಶ್ವದ ಅತಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ವೃತ್ತಿಪರರ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಎನಿಸಿರುವ ‘ಐಇಇಇ’ ಇತ್ತೀಚೆಗೆ ಅತಿ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿತ ‘ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪಕರ ಪದಕ’ವನ್ನು  ಕೊಹ್ಲಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಅಮೆರಿಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರದಾನ ಮಾಡಿ, ಗೌರವಿಸಿತು.

-ಶಿವಾನಂದ ಕಣವಿ, (ಲೇಖಕರು ಹೆಸರಾಂತ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತರು. ಟಿ.ಸಿ.ಎಸ್‌ನ ಮಾಜಿ ಉಪಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು)

F C Kohli -- A Tribute

F C Kohli –A tribute
(Appeared in Business India, March 17-30, 2014)

Photo credit: Palashranjan Bhaumick

Padma Bhushan, Faqir Chand Kohli completes 90, on March 19, 2014. It is a day to celebrate for many Indians whose life he has touched directly or indirectly.

He has been variously described as: the ‘Bheeshma Pitamaha of Indian software Industry’, a la the epic Mahabharat; a master strategist and visionary whose systematic building of TCS from 1974-1996 not only created a pioneering IT giant but also laid the ground work for the rise of a $100 billion Indian IT industry; a classical mentor, whose protégés have gone on to build many other successful companies; A ‘Henry Ford of IT services’, who moved software development from artisan like activity to an industrial assembly line of a software factory and so on and so forth.

I think all of them are perhaps true but inadequate to describe Faqir Chand Kohli’s work or his personality. I have interacted with him for nearly two decades first as a business journalist and then as a TCS executive and he continues to surprise me with newer and newer facets of his personality.

He is a man of very few but carefully chosen words. A lot of thought and home work goes behind almost every word he speaks on a subject. An impatient new comer who tries to interrupt him will be soundly put down. He can’t stand fools and those who speak off the cuff without doing their homework and would not hesitate to tell them so. As S Ramadorai, who was picked by him as his successor to lead TCS from 1996-2009 points out in his book “The TCS Story and beyond”, Kohli is hard on the outside and soft and considerate inside and would listen to alternate or even dissenting views if they are grounded in facts and if they are defended with conviction. Ramadorai says he developed a method to put forward his views to FCK (as he is fondly called by many TCSers) through carefully written memos followed by a discussion, which worked remarkably well. However many others less prepared in TCS used to find a call from Kohli’s implacable secretary rather daunting and some even dreaded it.

Kohli’s contribution to Indian software industry and TCS is rather well documented. So let me bring out some lesser known but significant contributions from him, which he seems to make with consistency and regularity.

Most people in India seem to have been carried away by the spectacular success in IT services ($ 70 billion exports in 2012-13 according to RBI). A decade ago, some politicians even started calling India, quite prematurely, an ‘IT Superpower’, in their own inimitable style. However the man who started it all is far removed from such pompous statements. He has been painstakingly advocating that India cannot be a significant player on the global technology map without a developed hardware industry. India missed the microelectronics revolution mainly due to policies of the government at that time. Later the global chip industry evolved into a design and testing segment and a chip fabrication segment and Kohli advocated developing appropriate courses in IITs and other engineering colleges to develop the human resources for high end chip design and testing which today constitutes about 80% of value. As a result India has become home to a thriving chip design and testing industry. However Kohli has been emphasising that India needs to produce about 6000 MTechs (4-5 times the current output) every year in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits) design to reach the sophistication of Israel, which is a leading player in the field.

A passion for Kohli has been improving the standards of engineering education. Nearly two decades ago he started advocating that a handful of IITs are insufficient and at least 50 existing colleges in India have the potential to reach the IIT standards. As a result of his persistence he was tasked by the Government of Maharashtra to identify such colleges and put in motion a plan to upgrade the ones in Maharashtra. Kohli took up the challenge in not only coming up with a gap analysis report but also engaged himself as an active chairman of the board to raise the standard of College of Engineering at Pune, a 150 year old institution and alma mater of such illustrious names like M Visvesaraya, C K N Patel, Thomas Kailath, Hatim Tyabji et al. It had gone downhill since then. He gave them a systematic road map, mentored them step by step to achieve parity with IITs in undergraduate and post graduate engineering education. The results are there for all to be seen and COEP is being cited as a success story of a turn around by many experts.

Kohli’s association with education in fact goes back several decades. He was introduced to Dr P K Kelkar, who was then the principal of VJTI, Mumbai, in the 50’s. Soon he was designing a course on Control Systems to be introduced for the first time in India at VJTI. He used to give some lectures there as well, in his time-off from Tata Electric. Association with Kelkar developed further when Kelkar was made in charge of establishing IITs in Mumbai and then in Kanpur. Kohli actively worked with Kelkar in building IITs and during his visits abroad for TCS work, did some talent spotting and faculty recruitment as well. This led to IIT Kanpur developing the first MTech program in Computer Science in India. He not only recruited many of the IITans into TCS but also invited many IIT Professors to do training and consulting assignments in TCS. This culture of strong academic association continues in TCS to this day.

Kohli is not content with the current proliferation of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in India, though it has been spectacular in the last decade. He has been advocating focused efforts to develop Indic Computing so that over the 90% of India’s population which does not know English and carries out its business in Indian languages would then cross the digital divide. “And then you will see a genuine ICT revolution”, he often says.

Kohli in unafraid to be contrarian. For example when much dust was raised recently over organized retail of both Indian and foreign pedigree, as possibly threatening the livelihood of small businesses and especially retailers; he advocated the development of appropriate IT tools to help small businessmen and traders. Combining IT with their ingenuity and inherent entrepreneurship he believes would enable Indian small businesses match anyone and thrive.

This is typical of Kohli, when faced with a problem he never regresses into defensive strategies nor engages in empty bravado but advocates appropriate technological and societal solutions.

For example when he saw the problem of adult illiteracy in India which was reported to be to the tune of 34% in 2001 census, he started working along with his colleagues P N Murthy and Kesav Nori on designing a solution. He based it on innovative teaching and deep understanding of the processes of cognition and learning. It led to a Computer Based Functional Literacy package, which can teach any one to read in any of the Indian languages within 35-40 hours at an average total cost of Rs 100 per person. It can use old discarded computers of even Intel 486 vintage and a package with animated graphics and a voiceover to explain how individual alphabets combine to form various words and their associated meaning. The setting for the lessons is visually stimulating and crafted in a manner that learners can easily relate to. It is said that this approach can help India achieve a literacy rate of 90% in about five years, which might otherwise take over 30 years.

Kohli is a strong institution builder and the Computer Society of India, Nasscom, Manufacturers Association of Information Technology, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) owe a lot for their growth and evolution to his untiring efforts and leadership. Recently IEEE the largest professional organization in the world, with nearly a half a million engineers as members, honoured him with the prestigious Founders’ Medal, in USA.

Most know him as a leader of IT industry but very few know about his contributions to the Power Industry. He is a fellow of IEEE, not for his contributions to the IT but for his contributions to Power Engineering. During his nearly two decades at Tata Electric Companies (now Tata Power) and in the capacity of Chief Load Dispatcher, Kohli was one the chief architects of a system which has delivered stable, high quality, uninterrupted electricity to the city of Mumbai rivaling New York. In the mid-sixties, under his leadership, Tata Electric was the third utility in the world, the first in Asia, to employ a digital computer to plan load dispatch. His paper on the “Economics of long-distance extra-high-voltage transmission lines” written in 1963 won great acclaim and in fact created the basis and plan for Power Grid Corporation of India.

His pain is palpable when he discusses the current situation of power sector in India. The 35-50% transmission and distribution “losses” reported by various utilities enrage him. He says that with appropriate systems one can reduce it to below 10%. His track record in Tata Electric speaks for itself, where the losses used to be a mere 7-8%. “It is common sense that if you apply appropriate technology and a certain amount of investments and achieve these levels of efficiency then you have automatically doubled the power available to consumers without further investments in power generation”, he exclaims. However he is never a man to engage in empty pontification. Even now one would find him engage young power engineers from IIT Bombay in vibrant discussions on efficient power system design. Ever the entrepreneur he is encouraging them to set up a power system consulting group.

Kohli was also a pioneer in bringing the culture of management consultancy to India. In fact many of TCS’ early engagements were management consultancy assignments. “I think at one time we could have built a world class management consulting company too in India”, he sometimes says wistfully.

Kohli’s achievements in Power and IT Industry and active interest in solving varied societal problems make him an Engineers’ Engineer much like Bharat Ratna M Visvesvaraya. A workaholic, who scoffs at the concept of retirement and fading into the sunset and is deeply engaged in using technology and systems approach to solving societal problems at 90 !

Kohli is a great intellectual asset to India and we wish he also enjoys a long life like the legendary Visvesaraya.

Shivanand Kanavi

(The author, a well-known technology journalist, was Vice President, TCS and has written highly acclaimed books like, “Sand to Silicon: The amazing story of digital technology” and edited “Research by Design: Innovation and TCS”)

Wendy Doniger and her views on Hinduism and all that….

Wendy Doniger and her views on Hinduism and all that….

A year ago I tried to plod through Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus: An alternative history" at a senior friend's recommendation. I found the book full of trivia, shock value and sensationalism and many instances of mis-translation or mischievous translation. It was clearly intended to provoke a reaction...for example she translates "tapas" as "producing internal heat" and not the usual meaning of penance, intense meditation etc. the reason for this obvious mischievous or mis-translation became clear when she says 'Parvati produced internal heat to distract a Shiva in Yog Samadhi' (I am paraphrasing) giving a erotic twist to the puranic and literary episode (Kuara Sambhava, Girija Kalyana etc)..there are many instances of trivialisng or eroticising or psycho analytical / sexual interpretation of Hinduism. Where there is some interesting insight ...I found it has been borrowed from some one like A K Ramanujan. Since I was looking for genuine scholarship to learn about the Indian philosophy and tradition, I stopped reading the book after pushing myself to read about 500 of the 780 pages.....Should some one take her to court for hurting their sentiments? Should it be banned ?Should one ignore it or should one tear it apart in a debate like Rajiv Malhotra has done quite effectively in many of his writings?.....
I have limited time and energy and have "changed the channel" and moved on to reading what will educate me and thereby enrich me.....

ISRO : Cryogenic Success

ISRO: Extreme Engineering

ISRO succeeds in the cutting edge Cryogenic rocket technology to propel Indian space program forward

(Excerpts appeared in Special Report, Business India, February 17-March 2, 2014)

Space Spectacle: The successful launch of GSLV D-5 on Jan 5, 2014 from SatshDhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota, Andhra Pradesh (Courtesy ISRO)

Why is a rocket technology developed by the Indian Space scientists to operate at an extremely cold temperature of minus 250 °C, also known as Cryogenic engine technology, very hot? Why did it take India nearly 20 years to successfully develop this? What does it hold for the future of ISRO? These were some of the basic questions Business India tried to get answers for after the recent much heralded success of India’s GSLV D-5 (Geo-Stationary Satellite Launch Vehicle—see box Space Jargon Explained)

This success in Cryogenic rocketry at ISRO will soon allow it to launch its own communication and weather satellites (which weigh 2 tons and above). ISRO has been designing and building satellites for various applications like communication, weather prediction, TV broadcasting, earth observation and resource management, disaster management, distance education, navigation, cartography, oceanography and reconnaissance for over three decades, while at the same time developing the required rockets (Launch Vehicles –in space jargon). However the Indian work horse for satellite launch—PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle)is capable of launching only the lighter satellites weighing one ton or less onto 400-1000 km low earth orbits. The heavier communication satellites which need to be put into geo stationary, 36000 km orbits, were being launched by the French led European commercial launch company Arianespace (http://www.arianespace.com/index/index.asp).

Space Jargon Explained Geostationary orbit Any object placed in orbit at 36,000 km above the equator will take the same amount of time as Earth does to complete one revolution. This makes it stationary in relation to Earth. A dish antenna receiving signals from the satellite does not need to move to continuously track it, which makes tracking cheaper and less complex. Why multi-stage rockets? The heavier the weight that is carried into space, the larger must be the rocket ferrying it, because of the need for more fuel and power. It costs approximately $30,000 to put one kilo into geostationary orbit. In a multi-stage rocket the burnt out stages are detached one by one and drop to Earth so that less and less weight is actually carried into orbit. Why should we use liquid-fuelled rockets when solid-fuelled rockets are much simpler to make? Solid-fuelled rockets cannot be turned on or off at will; once lit they burn till the propellant is exhausted. A liquid-fuelled rocket, on the other hand, can be easily controlled like the ignition key and accelerator of a car. Remote sensing Observing Earth from a distance and getting information based on the reflective properties of different objects is known as remote sensing. Remote sensing can also be done using aircraft, but satellite remote sensing is far cheaper and more comprehensive. India achieved perhaps the best Remote sensing satellite system in the world way back in 1995 with IRS 1-C. PSLVPolar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), commercialized since mid ‘90s can launch a one-tonne satellite in a 400-1,000-km orbit. It has been primarily used for launching India’s best in class IRS remote sensing satellites. It has also been used innovatively for Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan, India’s Moon and Mars missions. Communication SatellitesThey are like a TV tower that can cover the entire Indian subcontinent, positioned 36000 km up in the sky at the equator south of India. India has launched many of them for telephony, TV broadcasting, weather prediction, climatology, disaster management, Global Positioning and Navigation, search and rescue etc.

GSLVGeostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle is a rocket which uses for the first time a Cryogenic third stage that will give enough push to launch a 2 ton communication satellite into a Geo Transfer Orbit eventually placing the satellite in a 36000 km high orbit.

Cryogenic EngineRockets engines using liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen as oxidizer and fuel are called Cryogenic rockets as the fuels have to be maintained at extreme cold temperatures of minus 250 °C.

Specific ImpulseThe thrust that the rocket will get for a given mass flow rate of fuel is Specific Impulse. It is the lowest for Solid Propellant rockets, followed by the earth-storable liquid fuels then semi-cryogenic and then fully Cryogenic. The unit of Specific Impulse is seconds. In Cryogenic one gets 415 sec, in solid fueled it is 270-80 sec. in earth storable liquid fueled it is 300 sec and in Semi Cryo it is 315. 

SatnavA Satnav or Satellite Navigation system is a system that allows small electronic chips on the ground (in your car, bus, airplane, ship or a battle tank) to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude) to high precision (within a few metres) using signals transmitted by a constellation of satellites.So far the United States NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian GLONASS are global operational Satnav systems. China is in the process of expanding its regional Beidou navigation system, whose services are being offered to Pakistan and other Asian countries into a global Compass navigation system with a constellation of 35 satellites. The European Union's Galileo positioning system is in initial deployment phase. France has set up a rudimentary regional system called DORIS which is less accurate than GPS. Japan is in the process of developing its regional navigation systems, QZSS (Quasi Zenith Satellite System) of four satellites. The Indian SatnavIRNSS (Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System) consists of 7 satellites. One satellite IRNSS-1 was launched in July 2013 and four more are being launched in 2014. All the segments (space, ground and user recievers) are being built in India and will be in Indian control. Sovereign control is essential in war like situations when the signals from other systems may be turned off.  It is intended to provide an all-weather absolute position accuracy of better than 7.6 meters throughout India and within a region extending approximately 1,500 km around it. 

GAGANA satellite and ground based system GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation) has been developed by ISRO in collaboration with the Airport Authority of India to help Indian Civil Aviation using existing GPS signals from NAVSTAR and making them more reliable for aviation purposes. A GAGAN transponder has already been placed in orbit and the system is undergoing final certification for safety and accuracy.

It is to the credit of ISRO that the Indian Moonshot (Chandrayaan ) and the Mars-shot (Mangalyaan ) were launched by this less capable rocket (PSLV),thereby gaining respect and admiration amidst the space faring world, for ISRO’s ingenuity, innovation and frugal engineering.

After the successful launch of GSLV D-5 there will be some more developmental flights before it is declared a commercial launch vehicle. Till then GSLV will be used to launch some experimental or domestic developmental satellites including India’s own Satnav systems GAGAN and IRNSS (see box Space Jargon Explained ). GSLV would have adequate power to put the current class of INSAT Communication Satellites which weigh around 2 tons to Geostationary orbits.However, for the next generation heavier satellites or even the more ambitious exploratory missions to Moon, Mars and beyond, ISRO is already working on the GSLV Mark III—a rocket with a two times more powerful Cryogenic stage under development. It can then put a 4-5 ton satellite into geostationary orbit or have more substantial Moon and Mars missions and perhaps even a manned space flight.

What are the commercial possibilities of these developments? According to Dr K Radhakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO, “India has already launched 35 foreign satellites for 18 countries using PSLV. Three of them were dedicated launches while others were piggy rides on our own missions. We are going to have one more in 2014, when we launch Spot-7,a 712 kg Earth Observation satellite from France, identical to Spot-6 that we launched in 2012. There will also be 3 foreign co-passenger payloads in that PSLV flight. Germany has 800 kg satellite which we will launch with PSLV in 2014-15. There will also be one dedicated flight for 3 satellites of 300 kg each from UK for science, remote sensing etc. There will be one more for a Singapore satellite. These four flights of PSLV are already on the table. There are other smaller ones. Antrix is marketing our capabilities to foreign customers. We have 7-9 of our own satellites to be launched for communications, navigation (GPS), meteorological purposes using GSLV.”

As for the high profile Moon and Mars missions Radhakrishnan who is the first Engineer-MBA (IIM,B 1976) to head ISRO, adds, “So far we have received generous applause from all international space agencies for both the complex maneuvers of Mangalyaan and the success of GSLV. I am sure new commercial deals will follow with many countries.Certainly its success in the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) has raised PSLV’s profile. It is considered novel since we used a comparatively low powered vehicle, to put 350 kg fuel in the satellite to go to exit point for Mars orbit. One could also use a very powerful rocket as NASA did with MAVEN recently. Our frugality also meant that it took more time to reach the Mars exit point and several complex maneuvers were involved. To each lift off time a new trajectory design and new steering program had to be prepared. If GSLV were available we could have put a bigger satellite or the same satellite with a larger orbit”.

This is great news but what is so complex about Cryogenic technology that it has taken over 20 years for development whereas the earlier successful rockets both solid and liquid fueled were developed in less than a decade? To understand this first of all we need to understand what is Cryogenics and then what is Cryogenic rocketry. When scientists talk of Cryogenics or the “science of the extreme cold” they start at roughly minus 150 °C.

How cold is Cryogenics?

• ·         We might start using our woolens when the temperature starts going below 20 °C.
• ·         Ideally the refrigerators we use at home cool the contents to about 4 °C and about minus 18 °C in the freezer.
• ·         Right now Indian army jawans are facing temperatures around minus 40°C at their outposts in Siachen Glacier, and as we know hundreds of them have died due to inclement cold weather at high altitude and not enemy bullets.
• ·         The coldest places on earth like parts of Northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland have recorded temperatures in the minus 60 °C range while recently minus 90 °C was recorded in a research station in the Antarctic.
• ·         We import LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) which is kept below minus 163 °C
• ·         Oxygen liquefies at minus 183 °C
• ·         Nitrogen and Air liquefy at minus 196 °C
• ·         Hydrogen liquefies at minus 253 °C
• ·         Helium at minus 269 °C
• ·         Minus 273 °C is called the Absolute Zero and according to modern physics atoms and molecules cease their incessant motion and almost stand still.

Gases reduce in volume enormously on liquefaction.Hence the preferred way to transport them in a vessel is in the liquefied state; be it Natural Gas, Oxygen, Nitrogen or Hydrogen. Liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen provide the best combination to burn in outer space and get the biggest kick for the rocket to propel forward, what is called Specific Impulse in rocket scientists jargon (see box Space Jargon Explained ). However as it has been dramatically picturised in many Hollywood fantasies like “Terminator” sequels, Batman and Superman sequels, most things living and non-living including the toughest metals become brittle at these extreme cold temperatures and can be pounded to powder easily.

Creating materials that can be engineered into machinery to withstand and reliably operate at these temperatures is a challenge to modern Material Scientists. The problem is further compounded in rocketry when the liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen kept at minus 250 °C  in the fuel tanks then come down through pumps and valves and burn in another part of the engine called the combustion chamber producing extremely high 3000 °C  where most materials themselves would melt away !

That is why a nation mastering Cryogenic Rocketry is highly respected in the technological world.No wonder the number so far was only five; US, Europe, Russia, China and Japan. On Jan 5, 2014 the sixth kid on the block; India, joined the exclusive club.

However the road to success has not been smooth. ISRO started working on a 1 ton Cryogenic engine way back in 1982 to become familiar with the basics. Then a serious attempt to leap frog by buying Russian Cryogenic technology after the collapse of the Soviet Union and when it was in financially dire straits, was done in the early 90’s. However US brought pressure on Russia not transfer the Cryogenic technology to India citing violation of MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime). Obviously it was a US show of raw power against the weakened Russia and the “nonaligned” India, because no country uses Cryogenic engine in any missile whatsoever for the simple reason that it takes a lot of time to prepare the rocket for launch and then it takes a complex process taking even longer to restore the rocket if the launch is aborted. It was clear that India was still being punished by sanctions imposed after the 1974 Pokharan nuclear test and for not being an enthusiastic supporter of the Gulf War launched by US against Iraq after the collapse of the bipolar world in 1990-91. Yeltsins’s Russia was too weak to resist this blatant arm twisting and rescinded from the agreement and instead made a deal to sell 6 cryogenic stages to India without transferring the technology. India then had to restart its own R&D and ISRO took up the design of a 12.5 ton Cryogenic stage for the new GSLV in 1994.

Radhakrishnan explained the tortuous journey littered with disappointments, which finally succeeded on Jan 5, 2014 after going through several rigorous reviews analyzing the failures and corrective measures and redesign.

“GSLV Mark III would have ingested the lessons from the learning curve of GSLV” says a confident Dr K Radhakrishnan, Chairman ISRO

“When it comes to Cryo because we are operating at very low temperatures, simple handling of the fluids and providing all the plumbing at those temps is the first problem. Secondly the materials that we use should have their properties in tact both at those low temperatures and also at high temperatures of combustion. Third there are rotating parts at least three major ones: fuel booster turbo pump; oxidizer booster turbo pump and the main turbo pump. These pumps operate at speeds like 30-40 k rpm. One needs to have bearings, seals of these pumps working at those extremes of temp. The control components which we use like sealants, valves should also work there. In the GSLV design we used the staged combustion cycle, where we get slightly higher Specific Impulse but the system is far more complex. For testing we should have the entire system. There is no modular testing and there is no restart.”

Radhakrishnan added, “In GSLV Cryo engine there are four ignitions to take place. Once we give a command the booster pump actions have to start and 4 ignitions have to be maintained. All four have to be ensured in a sequence in the first 3 secs. The temperature and pressure conditions at that point in upper space with near vacuum conditions are crucial for 4 ignitions to take place. That is the complexity.We had to set up the special test facility in Mahendragiri and fabricate the engine, turbo pumps etc and the industry had to be brought in and handheld from the beginning.”

“In 2003 the engine was qualified, where we did several tests for several seconds and we got the performance we needed. This was engine testing. After that we started testing the stage which includes fuel tanks and all other paraphernalia along with the engine, in 2007. The flight stage was prepared and tested in 2010 April on GSLV D-3. However ignition did not sustain beyond 800 milli secs. The fuel booster turbo pump just stopped. We had a detailed analysis for the failure that took place in vacuum conditions.”

Why did the fuel booster turbo pump stop? Had it worked are we sure the rest would have worked? This ignition is taking place in vacuum how are we sure that in those conditions the mixture will be correct were the doubts that started plaguing ISRO after this failure.

“We generated all the scenarios and 2-3 points came out very clearly. We had not tested this pump in Cryo conditions. When we use dissimilar materials in a welded joint the contraction will be different in them. There are three bearings in that pump where the tolerances may not have been sufficient to take in the dissimilar contractions. So we revisited all those tolerances. The second possibility of stoppage was a casing that could have separated as a weld yielded. So we redesigned it. Third was the possibility of a contaminant, a speck of corroded material somewhere coming into the fuel that could have led to stoppage.We were setting up a high altitude test facility for the next generation GSLV Mark III. We decided to use it for this engine. That was a cardinal decision that we took in 2012 February. In 2013 March-April we conducted two tests in high altitude conditions in a given sequence and this gave us confidence. Then we committed for the flight” explained Radhakrishnan.

In August 2013 GSLV flight was scheduled then minutes before launching, ISRO found a heavy leak of liquid fuel UH 25. In the late 90s Ariane had the same problem due to corrosion of the Aluminum alloy used for the tanks and ISRO had also found the problem in 2002 and it started using another slightly heavier alloy which does not have this problem. However the transition to new alloy had to take place in a phased manner. As if Murphy’s law was clearly operating lo and behold, and the last old tank was used in that flight which gave ISRO the problem.

The restoration after aborting the flight was another major issue. Nearly 450 people worked for a week to save the cryogenic stage, the satellite etc. “We had to drain nearly 350 tons of toxic propellants like UH-25 without causing pollution and disarm all the pyro devices. Remove all the 36 hoses of Cryo engine and so on. The vehicle was brought back and destacked. The second stage and L-40 had to be redone. It was more than defusing a bomb”, says Radhakrishnan with a lot of pride in his team.

Thus the ground was laid for the success of GSLV D-5. ISRO is now confident of testing this vehicle further in a couple of more development flights and also developing the next generation GSLV Mark III which will be begin its flights tests in 2014.

Recognising the potential of space technology for developmental and societal purposes in a developing country like India was the contribution of Sarabhai. The program started very modestly with a little help from the French and the Americans in terms of a few sounding rockets and weather balloons to study various phenomena in the upper atmosphere. In the archives of ISRO there exists by-now-famous photograph of a rocket being brought to the launch pad in Thumba on the back of the bicycle.

After his premature death, a quintessentially professorial Satish Dhawan shouldered the responsibility to drive this program. And lo and behold with Mrs Gandhi’s quiet backing as Prime Minister and Dhawan’s leadership ISRO started designing satellites and launching them courtesy the Russians and the French and even the Americans (in the pre-Pokharan world, of course!). Simultaneously a vigorous program was taken up to develop the launch vehicles. Vasant Gowarikar, Abdul Kalam etc toiled to make a success of the solid fueled rocketry. The strategic implications of the technology were very clear and Mrs Gandhi moved Kalam to the newly formed Integrated Guided Missile Program of DRDO that eventually led to Prithvi and Agni. 

Meanwhile the liquid engine technology offered by the French was diligently pursued till India attained mastery of it and developed its Vikas engine surprising their French Gurus too. Together the solid and liquid fueled rocketry led to the design and success of PSLV which has been the work horse of ISRO in the last two decades. The current hard earned success of GSLV takes ISRO’s capabilities to the next level. “We have learnt our lessons from GSLV and the next generation GSLV Mark III which will really mark India emerging as a major space technology power with its own heavy launch capability would have ingested all the lessons from the learning curve. No doubt other countries like US, Russia, EU and China have developed even heavier Cryo stages but GSLV Mark III suits our plans just fine and we are not in any megalomaniacal race with anyone” says a quietly confident Radhakrishnan.

The success of GSLV has been a fitting tribute in the Golden Jubilee year of Indian space program that started in 1963 in Thumba, a fishing village near Tiruvananthapuram, Kerala and we hope to see more technological and commercial successes from this jewel among government funded R&D in India.

END