India vs Pakistan: The SPACE Race! | Vikram Sarabhai Story by Abhi and Niyu

Pakistan is growing faster than India Pakistan is two steps ahead of India in science In fact, Pakistan is defeating India in the space sector If I say all these things, then you will laugh at me But there was a time, when these statements were true Yes Pakistan reached space before India Then how come India got ahead of Pakistan today? Because of one hero The name of that hero is Vikram Sarabhai Today, we enjoy cricket matches on TV We dream about going to IIM, Ahmedabad or else Feel proud after watching ISRO’s achievements But all these things were possible Only because of one man’s vision Today’s video is about India and Pakistan’s space war But, one thing before the video is started Only 30% viewers have subscribed to the channel If you are new here and you haven’t subscribed the channel then please press that subscribe button This is free for you but it helps us a lot Chapter 1: Who was Vikram Sarabhai? Vikram Sarabhai Who was born in one of India’s richest families He had a degree from Cambridge He had money And also had the opportunity to work outside India But he took a decision which we cannot understand The Decision of staying in India Why? Because he had a dream A dream of taking India to the space Whenever he would say this, then people use to laugh at him In fact, once a news paper had printed a headline that ‘India needs rice, not rockets’ And this was true In 1947, after Britishers left India became one among the most poor countries People didn’t even have food to eat We were surviving on foreign aid We were begging from the rich countries People asked why does a poor country like India need a space programme Then Sarabhai confidently said Because India is a poor counrty, and that’s why we need a space programme Because space technology has that potential Which can help India in its development Which can solve our real life problems And that is what happens today Due to the space program, we get weather information on time which helps farmers take their decisions We get to know well in time about the upcoming cyclones And this helps in disaster management Space technology contributes in keeping our borders secure He and his friend Dr. Homi Bhabha Achieved such things for India in a few years, due to which Even a powerful country like Pakistan was left behind Chapter 2: The space race In 1957, USSR did a miracle They sent an artificial moon to the space named Sputnik This artificial satellite was just the size of a football But when it reached the space It spread two messages throughout the world 1. That USSR reached space before America 2. Entering the space is possible for every country After a few months, they also sent a dog named Laika in space America got scared NASA was lagging behind in the space race USSR’s progress was a bad news for America But, a ray of hope for other countries We all know about the space race of America and USSR But India and Pakistan were also in a space race This is Dr. Abdus Salam Who was one of the smartest minds of Pakistan It was due to his genius In the year 1961, Pakistan launched its space programme And also a sounding rocket just the next year Eight years before India’s space programme After USSR, Japan and Israel, Pakistan was the 4th country from Asia to go into space But how did they do this? Because of America’s help America too wanted to create its dominance in the space race American President had announced That before 1970’s, they will reach the moon This was a big commitment And to fulfill this, the more number of allies and scientists they get, the better it would be They wanted a partner near Indian ocean And Pakistan grabbed this opportunity In 1961, they established SUPARCO And next year itself They launched their first rocket with NASA’s help By now, India’s space program was not even started Now, Pakistan was progressing which is good How does this matter to India? It matters because space and military technology are developed hand in hand The technology which can be used by rockets going in space It can also be used by the missiles attacking India And Vikram Sarabhai knew this Chapter 3: India fights back Vikram Sarabhai understood the situation He had a long list of problems What all did India not have? Infrastructure – No People who can lead India – No Money for good scientists Not at all At that time, India had nothing But, we had hope He started addressing these problems one by one At the same time, he made one more list The list of our strengths Vikram Sarabhai was an expert in the field of cosmic rays He was trained by nobel prize winner C. V. Raman And he had good contacts in France and America He had an important task at hand Without any space program, without equipment, without money Convince the world to invest in India’s space sector We have strength and it can help the whole world And he made this happen America provided their apache rockets France provided payload for free These materials were transported on a bullock cart to Tumba launching station And on 22nd November 1963 India launched its first sounding rocket Sarabhai made possible which was impossible Chapter 4: ISRO and its achievements Even after its first rocket launch It took 6 years for ISRO to form as an organisation How did ISRO grow after that? They used the leapfrogging approach for growth Which means taking help of the technology already developed by other countries Don’t waste time in creating the same thing & get ahead this approach opened the door to many opportunities for India ISRO conducted an experiment named SITE Satellite Instructional Television Experiment Due to this, education was provided in 2400 villages To thousands of people through satellites In 1983, ISRO launched INSAT Our first Satellite Communication System We already have reached Moon and Mars And now getting ready to go to Venus Whereas, Pakistan was left behind in this space race So much, that they still don’t have their indigenous satellite launching system Their target is to launch their satellites by 2040 by themselves And India, is launching satellites for other countries Is building records and making profits Chapter 5: So what went wrong with Pakistan? Let’s come to the point In this whole story, why was SUPARCO Pakistan’s space programme left behind? Why was Pakistan defeated in the space race with India? Because India focused on Sarabhai’s vision Using the application of advanced technology focused on solving real life problems And Pakistan focused on developing weapons It focused on destroying India Pakistan’s PM has himself said this The people of Pakistan will go hungry, we will eat grass But we will get our bomb India and Pakistan’s story gets clarity after understanding The story of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Abdus Salam Dr. Abdus Salam was a great scientist He also got a nobel prize in future But in the year 1974 Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto passed a bill Which declared Ahmadi people as Non-Muslims Due to this new law A great person like Dr. Abdus Salam was removed from SUPARCO’s head position Dr. Salam loved his country Vikram Sarabhai loved his country But only one country loved their scientist back And that’s the difference This story is not to demean or belittle Pakistan But to learn from their political mistakes It is to ask questions to oursleves That do we still respect our scientists The same way as we did previously The truth is ‘I don’t know’ When we had nothing, we had hope And we still managed to do so much But today, we have everything Then why can’t we spend more on research and development? Why can’t we pay good salary to our scientists? We need to ask this question as a country I was spotted by Prof Vikram Sarabhai because I was not highly qualified But I was working hard then he gave me full responsibility to grow ISRO, IIM Ahmedabad, Physical research laboratory We consider these, as temples of modern India And to make these temples Vikram Sarabhai invested his whole life Despite having a degree from Cambridge Despite having opportunities abroad He decided to stay here and do something for India Leaving an easy comfortable life He chose a stressful life Maybe due to this stress, one night Vikram Sarabhai died He was only 52 Today is 30th December The same day, when Vikram Sarabhai left this world But his contribution is alive even today A person dies not just once but twice Once, when he himself dies And second time when he also dies from our memory So I have one question for you Will we do the same mistakes which Pakistan did with Dr. Abdus Salam? Let’s not let Vikram Sarabhai die today Let’s keep his values alive Let’s share his story Today’s India became what it is today because Our previous Indian generation recognised this Idea of India Made our patriotism, practical patriotism In their respective fields, they built not only their names But also of India And by keeping them alive in our hearts makes a difference to me