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I vividly remember one issue where eminent Indian scientists, technologists and environmentalists were asked to comment on a statement made by prolific science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. His statement suggested that space science would become the single most important sector to help the people on earth. "Typical Western nonsense," was the late Anil Agarwal's fuming response, which the magazine published. Agarwal, an environmentalist from the Center for Science and Environment, saw such space techno solutions to people's problems as some kind of Western conceit.
Today that interview is almost a decade old, but the perception has hardly changed -- that India's space program is a wasteful display of power by a poor nation. However, beyond this "common folk wisdom" of left liberal NGO thinking, the truth is somewhat different. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is one of the most successful people-oriented space mission programs in the world today. Its achievements span areas unimaginable for a space agency that deals with rockets and moon missions, as the below examples illustrate.
The Jaipur foot is the famous and affordable artificial limb that helps amputees who have lost their legs due to various reasons, from polio to land mines. From Afghanistan to Honduras, the Jaipur foot has put smiles on amputees walking the tough roads of their lives. The ISRO processed this technological revolution into a humanistic innovation by using polyurethane, a molecule, to build it. This makes the artificial limbs lightweight and strong to withstand the heat generated by friction, similar to an accelerating rocket cone striking the atmosphere.
ISRO scientists also conducted trials on this molecule as a component in polio calipers. The many trials held at the Vikram Sarabai Space Research Center in Thiruvananthapuram were successful. This meant that countless children who had had to drag their artificial legs could now enjoy more robust, durable, and lighter artificial limbs. This innovation by ISRO scientists is free of patents.
One wonders what sort of publicity a Western space agency would have won in the global media if it had achieved an innovation to the magnitude of ISRO's accomplishment, which touched and transformed human lives. It may have even triggered a wonderful Hollywood blockbuster. Sadly, the many Indian scientists who have put smiles on the faces of millions of children worldwide, irrespective of creed, race, and nationality, virtually go unsung and unnoticed even by their national media.
Many of ISRO's other achievements have touched and transformed millions of lives. They include the identification of plankton concentrations in the Arabian Sea, models for predicting fish movements for the Gujarat anglers, tapping paleochannels -- the dried beds of mystical rivers that changed course in the desert beds of Rajasthan, and identifying and renovating rural water resources -- particularly traditional water harvesting structures. These, like ISRO's other innovations, are rarely reported by the local media.
Isaac Asimov was right -- as right as the laws of robotics he invented for his sci-fi robots. The late Anil Agarwal too would have agreed had he seen the magnitude of sustainable development ISRO has brought to Indian society.
The ISRO has made great strides not only in the field of applied science and technology, but also in the field of pure science. Take for example the exciting search for extra-terrestrial life. It was not NASA or the European Space Agency, but an ISRO experiment designed by famous Indian astrophysicist J.V.Narlikar, that cultured the first microorganisms from earth's upper atmosphere. The experiment collected air samples in a balloon-based cryogenic sampler from earth's upper atmosphere and successfully cultured microorganisms under rigorous scientific conditions in two world-famous microbiological laboratories on Earth. Though the scientific community has lauded these achievements, Indian mainstream media have not given them due credit.
ISRO scientists recently carried out a comprehensive study of the impact of global warming on Himalayan glaciers. Based on satellite data from 1990, 1998, 2000, and 2001 and field data from 1960, they studied 466 Himalayan glaciers and concluded that the Himalayan glaciers are receding at an alarming rate of 20-40 cubic meters per year. These glaciers -- one of the largest sources of fresh water outside the polar regions -- are a matter of great importance to the public as well as policymakers.
If Indian media gave scientists even half the attention they shower on Bollywood affairs and celebrity marriages, they would do a great service. My prayer is that the media will sing the tunes of true heroes of the people and of science, rather than giving the headlines to celluloid sensationalism and political vanity.
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(S. Aravindan Neelakandan is a social scientist working with an ecological NGO called Vivekananda Kendra -- Natural Resources Development Project in Nagercoil, India. He is also a freelance writer and author of the Tamil-language "God and 40 Hz.")
