Biography of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai : Get all details here

Discover the inspiring life story of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the Father of the Indian Space Program. Learn about his remarkable accomplishments and legacy

Biography of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai : Get all details here

You must be aware that the Chandrayaan-2 mission's Vikram Sarabhai rover will be the first to touch down on the moon. 

However, are you familiar with Vikram Sarabhai? As a result, allow us to inform you that Vikram Sarabhai is a person whose name has been given the title of Janak in each of India's space programmes. 

 

We're going to tell you all the details of his life today in this article.

Biography of Vikram Sarabhai

Today, his name is known not only in the whole country but in the whole world, because of such a big discovery in his life, he gave a new direction to his life and also gave India a new discovery for development. 

Personal Details of Vikram Sarabhai

  • Full Name - Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai
  • Other names - Father of the Indian space program, Renaissance man of Indian science
  • Profession - Cosmic ray scientist, Astrophysicist Industrialist
  • Born - 12 August 1919
  • Place of Birth - Ahmedabad, India
  • Died - December 30, 1971
  • Place of Death - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
  • Age - 52 years
  • Cause of Death - Heart Attack
  • Nationality -  Indian
  • Hometown -  Ahmedabad
  • Religion - Jainism
  • Caste - Jain

Birth of Vikram Sarabhai

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, a great scientist in India, was born on the land of Ahmedabad, that date was 12th of August in the year 1919. He is an extremely wonderful scientist from India. 

 

Family of Vikram Sarabhai

Father's Name -  Ambalal Sarabhai

Mother's Name - Saraladevi Sarabhai

Brother's Name - Suhrid Sarabhai and Gautam Sarabhai

Sisters Name - Mridula, Bharti, Leena, Geeta, Gira Sarabhai

Spouse's Name - Mrinalini Vikram Sarabhai

Son's Name - Kartikeya Sarabhai

Daughter Name - Mallika Sarabhai

 

Vikram Sarabhai Family Life

  • Dr. Sarabhai was the son of one of Ahmedabad's largest industrialist families, not from a similarly impoverished background. 
  • Ambalal Sarabhai, his father, owned a number of businesses. 
  • In addition to being an Indian scientist, physicist, and astronomer, he had made a significant contribution to Indian freedom. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai's mother, Mrs. Sarala Devi, created a private school utilizing the Montessori methodology.
  • She intended to provide the kids with a wide range of instruction, not only academic knowledge, therefore her primary concern was their fullest possible development. 
  • Out of his eight siblings, Vikram was the only one who devoted his entire life to making India a respected and proud nation.

Vikram Sarabhai Life Story

Vikram Sarabhai Early Life and Education

His love of science began early in life, and it eventually manifested itself in such a way that he became one of India's greatest scientists.

 

  • He completed his education in India as well as abroad. 
  • He passed his primary and secondary examination while staying in India.
  • He relocated & reached England to join St. John's College of Cambridge University for his further studies i.e. matriculation.
  • He returned to India in 1947 after the completion of his studies. 
  • When they were closed to India, at that time India was freed from the slavery of the British. 
  • Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Rahnuma, India's freedom fighter, took inspiration from some of the famous legacies and worked with them extensively in his life.
  • The main ones being Krishnamurti, Motilal Nehru, Sri Krishna, Shastri Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Azad, CV Raman and Mahatma Gandhi.
  • After this he also became an innovative promoter, industrialist and visionary.

 

Career of Vikram Sarabhai

  • After completing his study, Vikram Sarabhai moved to India from England and united his friends and family to shut down the research institute in Ahmedabad. He also convinced the charitable trust to do the same. 
  • Due to the fact that there was a research center close to his home that was causing significant pollution to spread, he decided to establish a physical research laboratory in India.
  • In Ahmedabad Education Society, Dr. Sarabhai purchased some small space and constructed his physical research laboratory there.
  • On the other hand, two little rooms at MG College of Science were set up for study. After they had finished their work, those rooms were gradually and methodically transformed into a physical research laboratory. 
  • After some time, more funds were amassed and continued to advance his scientific career.

 

Personal life of Vikram Sarabhai 

  • In 1942, Vikram Sarabhai got hitched. Mrinalini, a classical dancer, became his wife and his life companion. She is a Padma Bhushan Award Winner. 
  • In the Indian city of Chennai, they both got married. Later, they had two more children; the son was named Kartikeya and the daughter was named Malika.
  • While the son had achieved great success in science, the daughter had made her name in the world of acting and activism. 
  • His marriage to Mrinalini, however, did not survive very long. Later, he began dating Dr. Kamla Chowdhary.

 

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Kamla

It's possible that Mrinalini and Vikram Sarabhai married with their consent. Kamla Chowdhary, a friend of Mrinalini, was a major factor in their later-in-life separation.

Kamala and Vikram Sarabhai began dating. Mrinalini began to feel deceived. Vikram made the decision to end their relationship, but he made successful attempts to do so. They might not have divorced in the end, but they were both split apart.

Inventions and experiments done by Vikram Sarabhai

The following are some of Vikram Sarabhai's findings and details on their application:

 

  • Under the guidance of Sarabhai, the first new telescopes were built to observe cosmic rays. 
  • Dr. Homi Bhabha, a person who is considered to be the father of every nuclear science program in science, giving his full support, Dr. Sarabhai established the first rocket launch impression in India. This institute was established at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram near the coast of Arabian Sea.
  • He explained the importance of space in a developing country and because of that the Indian Space Research Organization was started in India in 1969. The most important contribution in starting this organization was from Dr. Sarabhai, who himself founded the organization called 'Indian Space Research' i.e. ISRO.
  • Sarabhai also had a good rapport with NASA, with whom he interacted and collaborated with and launched the successful satellite television experiment from 1975 to 1976. 
  • A wonderful Indian satellite construction project was also started by him later. As a result of which the first Indian satellite Aryabhatta was put into orbit in 1975 from a Russian cosmodrome.

Contribution of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai 

Under Dr. Sarabhai's direction, the majority of significant institutions were also founded, and they are as follows:-

 

  • The first important institution is the Physical Research Laboratory established. 
  • He contributed to the establishment of 'The Ahmedabad Textile Industry Research Association' in Ahmedabad. 
  • He also insisted on spreading the Ahmedabad textile research industry all over India.
  • He began the Indian Space Research Organisation & also formed the Indian Institute of Management.
  • The community Science center in Ahmedabad is known by the name of Vikram Sarabhai, whose name is 'Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Center'.
  • After that he along with his wife established Darpan Academy for Performing Arts which is also located in Ahmedabad.
  • After some time, he also laid the foundation of 'Vikram Sarabhai Space Center' with his own hands. He built this center in Thiruvananthapuram itself. 
  • Later, a huge Space Applications Center was built in Ahmedabad by merging the six institutes built by Sarabhai.
  • 'Fast Test Reactor' was also constructed by Sarabhai, which is established in Kalpakkam.
  • After some time, he also contributed to the 'Variable Energy Cyclotron Project', which was established in Calcutta.
  • Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) was also built by him in Hyderabad.
  • Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), established at Jaduguda, Bihar.
  • He also formed the country's first 'Market Research Organisation', which was named Operation Research Group.

His in-depth research eventually advanced numerous space sciences in this way. In addition to this, he was instrumental in the development of other studies. 

He was the type of individual who both assisted in starting numerous institutions both in India and overseas and built numerous institutions on his own.

 

Why Dr. Vikram Sarabhai is called Father of ISRO?

  • He assured the Indian government that having a space center in India because of which our future generations would be able to easily learn about the things related to space. 
  • The Indian government gave permission, due to which Dr. Sarabhai  laid the foundation of the Space Center, and is therefore called the father of ISRO.

Awards and achievements of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai 

He has been honored with the biggest honorable awards from the Government of India. He continues to be regarded as one of India's best scientists today.

 

  • Padma Bhushan which was given to him in 1966
  • Padma Vibhushan which was given to him posthumously in 1972.
  • Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award

 

The largest accomplishment of his life is shown in front of us as India's Space Dhawan Centre, where significant scientific advancements are achieved in the fields of space and science.

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai's Death and Cause

Throughout his tenure, Dr. Sarabhai accomplished many wonderful things. 

He suffered a heart attack and passed away unexpectedly on December 30, 1971, at the age of just 52.

Conclusion

His whole life and his thinking is an inspirational life for the future generations to come. If someone wants to take inspiration from his life, then he can definitely become a successful person in life.

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