Born in 1919 into the progressive and philanthropic Sarabhai family of Ahmedabad, Vikram Sarabhai was raised in an environment where science, art, and social reform intertwined seamlessly. It was this rare confluence that shaped him into a scientist and visionary. After earning his doctorate in cosmic ray physics from Cambridge, he returned to newly independent India, brimming with potential, and saw in science not just a pursuit of knowledge but a tool for nation-building.
Science with soul
In 1962, with little infrastructure and even less public faith, he established the Indian National Committee for Space Research, laying the groundwork for what would become ISRO. Where others saw poverty as a constraint, he saw urgency. “We do not have the luxury of waiting,” he once said, making the case that satellites could revolutionise education, disaster relief, agriculture, and communication for the most remote parts of India.
A builder of minds and missions
Sarabhai’s genius lay not only in science but also in institution-building. He helped establish the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the Physical Research Laboratory, the Space Applications Centre, and several other notable institutions. To him, scientific excellence meant nothing if it didn’t uplift society. He believed in empowering others, training students, mentoring researchers, collaborating with artists, and engaging with thinkers from diverse backgrounds. His marriage to the celebrated dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai reflected this harmony between the rational and the artistic, the earthly and the aspirational.
The unfinished flight
He passed away suddenly in 1971, at the age of 52, while still charting new missions. But by then, he had already changed the arc of India’s destiny. Posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan, Sarabhai is remembered not only in textbooks and commemorative stamps but every time an Indian satellite lifts off or a student dreams beyond gravity. He made a generation believe that science was not a privilege but a promise. A promise that from modest launchpads and mighty ideas, a nation could rise.
