Dr VIKRAM SARABHAI
Pre-reading task
A. Recollect the past five years in your life. Think of the most important event that
changed the course of your life. Now write the event in the format given. One example is
given to help you.
Sl.No
1
Events which gave a different
shape to your life
Breaking my leg (2001)
Support you
received


Friends lend

class notes
Sister gave all 
help
Difficulties you
had to face
Sense of
helplessness
Unable to
attend
classes
Outcome result


Lost six
months of
classes
Became very
careful
B. Now listen to one of your friends describing an event and fill in the columns.
Pre-reading task
When ‘Aryabhata’, the first India built satellite, was launched in April 1975, India entered
the space age. The dreams of a great scientist were realised, though he was not alive to
celebrate the successful launching. He is none other than
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.
Vikram Sarahhai was born on 12th August, 1919, in Ahmedabad in an affluent family.
His parents were generous, and their time as well as money was spent on social work.
The Sarabhais had started a school called ‘Retreat’ where children found a unique way
of learning. The teachers were kind and affectionate.
Vikram’s earliest education was at the Retreat. He was very good at his studies,
especially in science, and all his teachers were sure that he would make his mark as a
scientist.
As a high school student, he was fond of science. When his friends read story books,
Vikram read about the achievements of great scientists. Observing his interest in
science, his father encouraged him and provided all the books and magazines that
Vikram needed.
After his studies at the Gujarat College at Ahmedabad, he thought of going to England
for higher studies in Physics. In 1937, he left for England and joined St. John’s
College. He got his degree in Physics and Mathematics. He read about scientific
discoveries and inventions. He was so well versed in various topics in Physics that
many of his classmates went to him with their problems. He would solve their problems
in an easy and interesting way.
After his return to India, Vikram joined the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore,
where he worked under Sir C.V. Raman. It was a treat for him to work as an assistant
to the great Nobel Laureate. Vikram carried out research on cosmic rays. He knew that
the study of cosmic rays would help in understanding terrestrial magnetism and the
atmosphere, the nature of the sun and the outer space.
In 1942, Vikram Sarabhai started working at the Meteorological Department at Poona.
He worked on Weather, and he dreamt of a Research Laboratory for studies on
cosmic rays.
In 1943, when he was just 23, Vikram went up the Himalayan mountains to conduct
experiments on cosmic rays. He was successful in his efforts. He was awarded PhD. by
the Cambridge University in 1947 for his studies on the subject.
With the help of his friends, Dr. Sarabhai realised the dream of setting up a Research
Laboratory for cosmic rays at Ahmedabad. Using telescopes and other instruments, Dr.
Sarabhai and his students made accurate observations on cosmic rays.
While he was actively working at the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad, Dr.
Sarabhai became interested in the study of outer space. The Research Laboratory
became the centre for learning of Space Physics, Plasma Physics and such allied
subjects. Under Dr. Sarabhai’s guidance the Laboratory became internationally famous.
A number of research scholars were trained there.
As a teacher, Dr. Sarabhai was almost worshipped by the students. He was so friendly
with them that he could often be seen sitting with them discussing their problems at a
cafeteria. He was never angry at the mistakes his students made.Once a research
student burnt up an electric meter. He was very upset fearing that Dr. Sarabhai would
reprimand him.
But, when Dr. Sarabhai came to know what had happened, he smiled and said, “Don’t
worry. We’ll buy another one. How else would you learn? Next time, I’m sure, you’ll be
more careful.” This was how he encouraged the students at the Research Laboratory.
Dr. Sarabhai realised the importance of industries in India. He set up Sarabhai
Chemicals, a pharmaceutical industry at Ahmedabad. This is one of the pioneer
concerns producing medicines and chemicals. The employees in this unit were given
the best training available.
Dr. Sarabhai sent many of them abroad to get training. He used his scientific acumen to
make the industrial scene healthier. His aim was to make India self-reliant in the field of
medicine.
Dr. Sarabhai was an ideal manager of human resources. He maintained close
relationship between the employers and the employees. This enabled the employees to
work in a conducive atmosphere. Dr. Sarabhai personally supervised all the work and
recognised sincere workers. Committed workers were given more challenging work. Dr.
Sarabhai always got the expected results.
In 1969, Dr. Sarabhai constituted the ‘Indian Committee on Space Research’. He knew
that space science could help many areas of importance, like education, communication
and weather forecast. The aim of the Indian Committee on Space Research was to
develop space science and technology in India. He wanted to make India a leader in the
field of Space Science.
This Committee on Space Science was later named the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) and Dr. Sarabhai was its first Chairman. His first achievement at the
ISRO was setting up the first rocket launching station at Thumba. Similarly, the second
station was set up at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, close to Chennai. Thus he created a
new chapter in India’s space age. ISRO has since launched a number of satellites and
rockets. All these achievements of Dr. Sarabhai were recognised when he was made the
Chairman of the U.N.Conference on Outer Space in 1968. It was a very prestigious
position for Dr. Sarabhai, and a matter of great honour and pride for India.
In April 1975, the first India built satellite was launched. It was named ‘Aryabhata’, after
the great Indian astronomer and mathematician of ancient times. Unfortunately, Dr.
Sarabhai was not alive to see his dream come true. Today these satellites are very
useful in the field of communication and weather forecasting. They are also used for
telecasting developmental programmes like family planning, adult education and health
care.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was made the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in
1966. Many thought that he would not be successful as the Chairman, as Atomic
Physics was a new subject for him. But Dr. Sarabhai read all about atomic energy,
contacted experts in the field, and proved that he deserved the post of the Chairman.
Dr. Sarabhai was a warm - hearted human being - modest, simple and soft-spoken. He
did not live to see all his dreams come true. He died in sleep on 30th December 1971
at the age of 52. In his death the country lost a great scientist and visionary.
Note :
Aryabhata: Born in 476 AD in Kerala, Aryabhata went to the University of Nalanda, near
present Patna. He was the first to deduce that the earth is round and that it rotates on
its own axis, resulting in day and night. He declared that the moon has no light of its
own, but reflects sunlight. He discovered the reasons for solar and lunar eclipses. As a
mathematician he was the first to find out the value of π (pi) as 3. 1416. In his book
Aryabhatiyam, he dealt with other aspects of mathematics such as geometry,
mensuration, square root, cube root and progression.
SOURCE
1. Vikram Sarabhai by Amrutha Patel Learners Press (P) Ltd, L-1 Green Park Exten., New
Delhi-16
2. Scientists of India by Dilip Salwi, Children’s Book Trust, Nehru House, No.4, Bahadur
Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.
A. ORAL WORK
1. Now you can have a quiz programme. Form groups of 8-10 students following the
directions given by your teacher. Each group can frame questions on one aspect of
Sarabhai’s life.
•
•
•
•
Personal life
Professional growth
Academic growth
Contribution to the field of Science
2. The question types can be as follows
•
•
•
•
Yes/No questions
One word answer type
Multiple choice questions
True or false type
4. Conduct the quiz with the help of your teacher. All of you can participate.
5. Judgement criteria
B
•
Correct answers given
•
Good questions framed
VOCABULARY
I.
e.g.
Some words can be made to mean the opposite of what they usually mean by
adding prefixes like ‘un’, ‘in’, ‘dis’, ‘ir’, ‘mis’etc.
successful accurate appear regular fortune -
unsuccessful
inaccurate
disappear
irregular
misfortune
Add prefixes to form the opposites of the following words:
direct, active, interesting, healthy, honour, fortune, true, capable, expensive, complete,
relevant, wise, responsible, justice.
II. Give one word for each of the following:
1.
one who foretells things by studying stars
2.
a person who travels in a spacecraft
3.
one who studies rocks and soil
4.
one who studies the human mind
5.
one who conducts a scientific study of the sun, the moon and the stars
6.
a person who is skilled in preparing medicines
III. Replace the words underlined in the following sentences with suitable phrasal
verbs given in brackets:
(broke in, make out, asked for, got through, backed out, gave away, give up, turned out)
1.
The workers demanded more pay and shorter working hours.
2.
He agreed to help, but withdrew when he found how difficult it was.
3.
The thieves entered the room by force and stole the gold.
4.
He finished the exams successfully.
5.
The teacher distributed books.
6.
I can’t get at the meaning of your letter.
7.
Enormous crowds gathered for the procession.
8.
The doctor advised the old man to stop chewing pan.
IV. Arrange the following words in the alphabetical order as you find them in a
dictionary.
1. shower, smile, squeak, sequence, stipulate, squeeze, smoke, snooker,
servant, squash, sanitation, stipend, shuttle, sentinel, sensible.
2. dedicate, litre, aerial, numeral, geometry, number, captain, peace, cellular,
incubate, pleasant, fault, eleven, hemorrhage,
3. linear, inculcate, capital, merriment, ability, memory.
V. Fill in the blanks with the correct words given in brackets.
1. Riksha Bila was a ________ and the ________ group of the vanaras entered it in
search of water. (whole, hole)
2. His ________ hand was hurt and so he used to _______ with his left hand.
(write, right)
3. It was easy to contact you because I ________ your ______ address. (knew,
new)
4. The _________ was ready to serve people even at _______ (night, knight)
5. The sage had a _______ in his hut. It was very _______ to him. (deer, dear)
C .GRAMMAR
1.
Simple past tense and present perfect form
a. Put the following questions to one of your friends in the class and see if he/she
can answer them.
(Add a few more questions)
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
What did you do yesterday?
Did you play any games?
Did you watch any programme on T.V.?
What time did you have your supper?
What did you do after supper?
Did you have strange dreams in your sleep?
................................................................................
...............................................................................
b. Put the following questions to one of your friends in the class and see if he/she can
answer them.
i. Have you completed your homework?
ii.
Have you had breakfast?
iii.
What have you learnt in today’s class?
iv. Which novels of Shivaram Karanth have you read?
v.
Have you ever been to Jammu and Kashmir?
vi. Have you ever been punished by your teacher?
vii. ..................................................................................
viii)..................................................................................
c) Now put all the answers in two separate columns.
Col. A
Col. B
i)
i)
ii)
ii)
iii)
iii)
iv)
iv)
v)
v)
vi)
vi)
vii)
vii)
viii)
viii)
D. What differences do you find between the answers in col ‘A’ and col ‘B’?
I. In column ‘A’, the main verbs are in the _______ ______ form.
In column ‘B’ the main verbs are in the _____________ form.
II. The answers in col ‘A’ are in __________ _________ tense.
The answers in col ‘B’ are in _________ _________ form.
III. Column ‘A’ describes ___________________ events.
Column ‘B’ shows the result or effect of the completed action.
1. Now look at the following table:
E. Now look at the following table:
Simple Past Tense
Examples
Present Perfect Form
Examples:

I visited Agra in 1998.

My child has eaten all the sweets

I saw ‘Baby’s Day Out’ last year.

I have not visited Agra


tense used: simple past
main verb: past tense form

tense (form): Present Perfect

Main verb: past participle form

Auxiliary (helping verb)
regular verb
irregular verb
has
visited
have
saw
third person
singular subject

shows a past eent

focus: on the time of the activity (in 1998 last
year)

answers the question when?



used for all
persons and
numbers except
third person
singular subject
Tells us about the past event and its present
or current relevance
Focus: on the completion of the action and
its result (My child’s stomach is full. Now he
has a stomach ache. I would now like to visit
Agra)
Does not answer the ‘when’
F. Complete the following sentences by filling in the gaps using the appropriate forms of
the verbs given in the box.
I _______with an accident last month. I __________ _________ to the hospital
then and ________ _special medicine to relieve pain. My sister and friends
_________me at the time.
Now if I think of my school. I ________________very bad. I ________my
project work. I ______________ __________for the examination. I _______
________my confidence. But I still _______hope in life!
Feel help
meet give miss admit complete lost have study
G. Here are some words taken from your lesson. How do you pronounce them
launched
realized
started
worked
called
provided
used
encouraged
needed
helped
solved
awarded
deduced
returned
expected
trained
constituted
recognized
wanted
died
Now listen to the teacher/refer to a dictionary and check your answers.
Note: Remember that the past tense forms are articulated in three different
ways as: |t|, |d| and |Id|. Your teacher will guide you about this
2. Active and Passive Voice
I. a) Read the following extracts from the text.
1. Arayabhata was launched in April, 1975.
2. The Sarabhais had started a school called “Retreat”.
3. Sarabhai’s father provided him with all the books.
4. Dr. Sarabhai was worshipped by his students.
b) Classify the above sentences under the two headings given below
based on the meaning.
A
B
Importance given to person
(doer)
Importance given to work
II. Classify the following into Active and Passive sentences:
1. Dr. Sarabhai personally supervised all the work.
2. One could see Dr. Sarabhai sitting with the students at a coffee shop.
3. He was awarded PhD. by the Cambridge University in 1947.
4. He gave the committed employees more challenging work.
5. A number of research scholars were trained at the Research Laboratory.
6. The committee made Dr. Sarabhai the Chairman.
7. ISRO named the Satellite Aryabhata.
8. The satellites are also used for telecasting developmental programmes like
family planning, adult education and health care.
Here are some more examples of contexts in which the passive voice is preferred.
1. Formal notices and announcements.
Passengers are requested to remain seated.
The term fees should be paid before the 5th of this month.
2.
Press reports
More people have been questioned and the conspiracy angle is being probed.
3. Scientific or Technical processes
Common salt is obtained from the sea.
III. Collect ten sentences each under Active and Passive voice from any
source (newspapers/storybooks) for your future reference.
D. COMPREHENSION AND COMPOSITION
I.
Four alternatives are given below each question. Pick out the correct one to
complete the sentence.
1. After his studies at the Gujarat College, Ahmedabad, Vikram thought of
going to England ___________
a. to carry out research in mathematics
b. to carry out research on cosmic rays
c. for higher studies in physics
d. to found a Research Laboratory
2. Vikram Sarabhai was awarded the Doctorate Degree by the Cambridge
University for _____________________
a.
b.
c.
d.
his studies on cosmic rays
his achievements at the ISRO
setting up the Sarabhai Chemicals
his studies on outer space.
3. Vikram Sarabhai’s first achievement at the ISRO was________
a. setting up a rocket launching station at Sriharikota
b. sending employees abroad to get good training
c. setting up a rocket launching station at Thumba
d. conducting successful experiments on cosmic rays
4. Vikram Sarabhai liked to work at the Indian Institute of Science because
__________________
a. the institute had good telescopes and equipment
b. the weather of Bangalore was conducive to him
c. he could work there as an assistant to Sir C.V. Raman
d. it was a research institute.
5. The employees at Sarabhai Chemicals loved and respected Dr. Vikram Sarabhai very
much because ________
a.
b.
c.
d.
Dr. Sarabhai personally supervised all the work
they could go abroad for special training
committed employees were given more challenging work
Dr. Sarabhai maintained a close relationship between the employers and
the employees.
6. The aim of the Indian Committee on Space Research was to _____
a.
b.
c.
d.
make India self-reliant in the field of Space technology
develop space science and technology in India
establish a space Research Laboratory
develop pharmaceutical industry in India.
7. Many thought that Dr. Vikram Sarabhai would not be successful as the Chairman of
Atomic Commission because __________
a.
b.
c.
d.
he was already the Chairman of the ISRO
the employees of the Atomic Energy Commission were not well trained
Atomic Physics was a new subject for Dr. Sarabhai
Dr. Sarabhai’s health did not suit the new post.
II. Answer each of the following questions in two or three sentences:
1. Write a brief note on Sarabhai’s education.
2. How did Sarabhai help his classmates at St. John’s College?
3. How can we say that Sarabhai was friendly with his students?
4. What is ‘Sarabhai Chemicals’? What does it produce?
5. What enabled the employees of Sarabhai Chemicals to work in a conducive
atmosphere?
6. How are satellites useful?
7. How did Dr. Vikram Sarabhai prove that he deserved the post of the Chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission?
8. For what work did Vikram Sarabhai get the Doctorate Degree from the Cambridge
University?
9. Which position was the most crucial (of utmost importance) in Sarabhai’s life and
why?
III.
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow.
1. ‘‘The Sarabhais started a school.’’
a. What was the school called?
b. Where was it started?
c. How were the teachers of that school?
d. Dr. Sarabhai’s health did not suit the new post.
2.
“Observing his interest in science, his father encouraged him
a. Who does ‘him’ refer to?
b. How did his father encourage him?
c. Give the opposite of encourage
3. It was a treat for him to work as an assistant to the great Nobel laureate.”
a.
Who loved to work as an assistant?
b.
Who was the Nobel Laureate?
c.
What does ‘laureate’ mean?
4. “It was a very prestigious position for Dr. Sarabhai.”
a.
What was the prestigious position?
b. When was this position offered to Dr. Sarabhai?
c. What was Dr. Sarabhai at that time?
IV. Answer each of the following in a paragraph:
1. Write about Vikram’s life as a schoolboy.
2. How can we say that Dr. Sarabhai was a kindhearted teacher?
3. What were Dr. Sarabhai’s contributions to pharmaceutical industry?
4. What makes you feel that Dr. Sarabhai was an ideal manager of human resources
V. Imagine that you are 25 years old. Prepare your curriculum vitae. You can be as
imaginative as possible.
Draw your picture as you would look at the age of 25.
Give the following details:
Personal details
Hobbies
a. Name
Referees
b. Parent’s name
Date / Place
c. Address for Correspondence
Signature
d. Age, date of birth
e. Nationality
Qualifications
a. Educational
b. Professional
Achievements
a. Awards / Prizes
b. Distinction
Work Experience
a. Names of firms / institutions
b. Nature of work
E. GROUP WORK
Sit in small groups of 4-5. One reads out the paragraph. Then discuss the content of
the passage and find answers to the questions that follow.
Bankim Chandra would never sacrifice justice and self-respect. The arrogance of
whitemen never frightened him. When he was a deputy magistrate, he had a superior
officer called Munroe, who was the Commissioner of Kolkata. On his morning walk,
one day, Bankim Chandra met Munroe near Eden Garden. A British Officer in those
days expected every Indian official to show him respect by bowing modestly before
him. But Bankim Chandra just walked past him saying ‘‘Good morning’’ politely. Munroe
was enraged. That evening Bankim Chandra received an order transferring him to a
far off place.
QUESTIONS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What did Bankim Chandra love most?
How did the British officers behave with their Indian subordinates?
What was the result of the polite ‘‘Good morning’’, to Munroe?
What do you think of the incident?
Glossary
Abroad
Acumen
Affluent
Allied
Astronomer
Conducive
Cosmic rays
Deserve
Generous
Make one’s mark
Modest
Pharmaceutical
Pioneer
Prestigious
Reprimand
self-reliant
Terrestrial
Unique
Visionary
: to another country.
: ability to think and judge quickly.
: rich.
: related, similar.
: one who does scientific study on the sun, the moon, etc.
: helping a desirable result to happen, helpful.
: a stream of radiation reaching the earth from the outer space.
: to be worthy of.
: ready to give help.
: become successful.
: expressing a lower opinion of one’s own ability.
: connected with the making of medicines.company.
: one who does something first.
: having admiration
: disapprove.
: able to act without depending on others.
: related to the earth
: new, different from others.
: one who has noble aims for future.