Former Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Sudhir Kumar Mishra, recalled his first meeting with former President and aerospace scientist A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, revealing that Kalam was the first person to ask him whether he would make missiles.
In an exclusive interview with senior journalist Romana Isar Khan on the show The Journey With Romana, the former BrahMos Aerospace CEO spoke about his early days at DRDO and admitted that he initially knew very little about the organisation or its then director, Abdul Kalam.
A mechanical engineer by training, Mishra was completely clueless when he walked in for an interview at DRDO. All he knew was that he had an offer for a government job in hand, which would give him pension after he’d retire. But little did he know that he was about to join DRDO’s main missile laboratory, and would get an opportunity to work under none other than India’s “Missile Man” APJ Abdul Kalam himself.
Asked how a mechanical engineer eventually became deeply associated with missile development, Mishra said the transition had never been part of his plan.
“It was an era where there was no internet. Even if you tried to search what an organisation did, you wouldn’t get to know about it easily. All I knew was that it was a Class-1 gazetted officer post, so let’s join it,” he said, detailing his interview experience at DRDO.
Mishra further recounted how he first learned about the organisation’s work only after arriving for the interview.
“After reaching there, I asked at the reception what Defence Research and Development Laboratory does. I was told ‘we research about missiles here’. I was then asked if I was interviewed by Abdul Kalam, to which I replied ‘I don’t know who he is’,” Mishra recalled.
He said he was later informed that Kalam was the director of the organisation and that every newly recruited officer was taken to meet him after selection.
“When I met him, he looked at my credentials and asked me ‘will you make missiles?’, and I told him I was interested, but I did not know anything about missiles at that time. But when you have studied the subject and possess its basic knowledge, it doesn’t matter what you make because the engineering is the same be it missile, aircraft, car or cycle,” he said.
The former DRDO chief described Kalam as a “magician,” saying he possessed a rare ability to inspire anyone to work hard and give their best.
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About Sudhir Kumar Mishra
Sudhir Kumar Mishra is a mechanical engineer and defence scientist. An IIT Madras graduate, he joined DRDO’s missile laboratory under SPJ Abdul Kalam in 1984, where he worked on the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme and other missile programmes of India, including the Agni and BrahMos.
He has been awarded with the “DRDO Scientist of the Year Award 2009” by the Prime Minister of India.
He has served as Distinguished Scientist & Director General (BrahMos), DRDO, Ministry of Defence, and CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace (the renowned Joint Venture between India and Russia), leading an R&D team to develop the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile BrahMos.
