Background   (பின்னணி )

I had a great opportunity of working in ISRO from it's nascent stage where very small rockets to predict the weather conditions were launched. I was not only a participant but also an observer in the day to day functioning of the organization. The vision of the the founder Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and his chosen leaders who have turn his dream to reality against odds. Following were great challenges the Organisation had to face during the course of development. 

• First and foremost was the technology was zealously guarded by a handful of developed nations.       
• Second the rocket science per say is very complex needing mastery over cutting edge technologies in multi - disciplined interacting with each other. 
• But for a very few, most of the engineers and scientists were qualified in india without any exposure to the high technology areas.
• ISRO being a Government of India organisation is governed by set rules and does not have the flexibility either to hire and fire or to encourage exceptional talents with out of turn increment or promotions. 
• The strategic nature and the complexity of the development process prevented ISRO from subcontracting most of the functions to other organisations or industries.
• The whole process of development of rocket is inherently costly with long lead time and highly risky with possibility of failure looming large all the time during development up to the actual flight.
• There were many skeptics questioning the need for a rocket for a poor developing country like India.

It will be interesting to note the even United Kingdom  abandoned development of  Rocket after encountering continuous failures.  

Despite all the above hurdles, today ISRO is the most successful Organisation and countries like USA and France have partners in progress. This could not have been possible but for the great leadership of many who had carried out the task with untiring efforts. The organisation worked towards a set goal defined by the Mission Statement by Late Vikram Sarabahi which is being strictly adhered to till today. 

when i deal with the great management principles  I learnt from Tirukkural, I was amazed to see a striking resemblance to the functioning of ISRO management. Hence I would like to bring to light some of the unique attributes of   the personnel  in reavent context.