The first attempt to launch SLV-3 was unsuccessful. As expected, there was a press conference immediately, where reporters had many questions.

While Abdul Kalam felt responsible for the crash, his chairman Professor Satish Dhawan took it upon himself to answer all the questions with confidence. He promised the media to launch SLV-3 exactly a year later.

The entire team worked doubly hard to make it happen, and a year later, it was a grand success! There was another press conference, but this time, Prof. Satish Dhawan gave the mike to Abdul Kalam. To him, Prof. Dhawan was an ideal and inspirational team leader.

Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, and a former President from 2002 to 2007. He is one of independent India’s most inspirational action and thought leaders. Popularly known as the ‘missile man’, he is admired for his contributions as an engineer and a scientist. As a ‘people’s President’, Dr Kalam developed a special rapport with children, whom he always encouraged to dream big.

Professor Arun K. Tiwari is the co-author of Wings of Fire, the autobiography of former President and Bharat Ratna A P J Abdul Kalam. As a former missile scientist who worked with Kalam, Tiwari is currently the managing director and CEO of Indo-US Healthcare.

Adopted for BookBox by Ananya Parthibhan.