Women with wings

The proud bearer of the titles 'Missile Woman of India' and 'Agni Putri', Dr Tessy Thomas, Director General Aeronautical Systems, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has been quietly smashing male bastions. Former President of India and her mentor, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam introduced Tessy Thomas as the Missile Woman of India at a gathering of students. Another moniker she bears with pride is Agni Putri, the daughter of fire. She is, after all, the first woman to lead a missile project with Agni III, and then following that success up with Agni IV, Agni V and more.

It's been a long, hard journey, fraught with challenges, for the young girl from the little town of Alappuzha in Kerala, the Venice of the East, with its picturesque backwater canals and abundant greenery. That she would grow up to become one of the leading names in missile technology and research in India was something her parents would possibly have never imagined. Born in April 1963, into a Syrian Christian family of Alappuzha, she was named Teresa after Mother Teresa, but she would come to be known by the diminutive Tessy that the family called her affectionately. She remembers going off to school every day, playing unconcernedly outside her home after school. When she was in class eight, her father suffered a stroke that left. The family went through a financial crisis. Her mother was a homemaker, and had earlier been a teacher, but she could not work out of the house anymore because her father needed constant care. These circumstances made her mother all the more determined that all her children—five daughters and a son—should have good careers of their own. Her parents didn't discriminate between the boy and the girls, ensuring each child got equal opportunities regardless of gender. Tessy would later say in an interview, that in Kerala, even if people don't have enough to eat, they spend the little money they have on educating their children.

They lived close to the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station. Tessy, with her classmates, went on a school trip to the rocket launching station and stared with wonder at the huge rocket in its launch pad being readied to be test launched a few days later. It fascinated her, the glory and the science behind these magnificent inventions. This was where her love for rockets began.

Both her parents were very particular that all six children focused on their education, and all the six siblings studied hard to get into educational institutions of their choice, and to make their paths in their chosen fields. She was extremely good at maths and science, and her parents encouraged her to pursue the stream, to the best of their limited resources. Young Tessy studied in St Michael's Higher Secondary School and St Joseph's Girls Higher Secondary School in Alleppey (Alappuzha). It was evident early in her scholastic career that she had a natural affinity as well as ability for both mathematics and physics, scoring 100 per cent in mathematics in her 11th and 12th, and 95 per cent in science. Back in those days, these scores were unthinkable, unlike today when they're the norm rather than the aberration. Back then, anything above 75 per cent was considered a distinction and celebrated. Back in those days, she says, 100 per cent in mathematics and 95 per cent in science was a huge achievement. Her parents were immensely proud of their daughter, and had high hopes from her.

While her parents could give her all the moral support she needed, financial support was tough to come by, given her father's health issues. She had already been awarded a scholarship at the Government Engineering College, Thrissur, that covered her academic expenses and fully funded her tuition. She then applied for an educational loan of `100 per month from State Bank of India to cover her living expenses in Thrissur while doing her engineering.

She took an unconventional elective during her engineering — radar systems. Of the entire batch that year, only three students opted for this elective, and Tessy was one of them. Perhaps, somewhere within her, that dream ignited by the glorious sight of the magnificent rockets launching at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station still lay dormant, although she had no clue where it was to head or that she would eventually make a career in it. Serendipitously, it was at this point in 1985 that she saw an advertisement for the course offering an M.Tech in Guided Missiles from the Institute of Armament Technology, Pune which is now the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology. The course came with an assurance of a job at the DRDO for those who completed it. At the time, most of her batchmates from her engineering college were applying for jobs at prestigious public-sector companies such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, BEML Ltd, etc. but this course was where Tessy wanted to be. She applied for it, gave the written test and was amongst the 10 across the country who made it through the written test and were called for the course. This, she considers the turning point of her life, not just professionally but also personally.

It was during her time in Pune that she would meet her future husband, Saroj Kumar Patel, a naval student from Orissa. They fell in love, and would eventually get married. Professionally as well, Pune and her stint at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology would prove to be the launching pad for her immensely inspiring career. Dr Abdul Kalam headed the institution then and was impressed by her work on gyroless navigation. He then had her teach around 50 scientists at the DRDO in Hyderabad. This was perhaps the second turning point in her career when a highly respected scientist like Dr Abdul Kalam took her under his wing. She taught at DRDO for a year.

After she had finished the course in Pune, she came to the DRDO lab in Hyderabad, in 1988. At that point, Dr Abdul Kalam was the director there, he would be director for a couple of years before moving on. He was already known as the Missile Man of India, he would go on to become one of the most loved and respected presidents of our nation later. It was sheer fate that she had planned to join the civil services and had given the exam, but the DRDO interview happened on the same day and she chose DRDO over the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Dr Abdul Kalam hand-picked her and placed her in the Agni Missile programme when she finished her M.Tech.

She would further go on to supplement her M.Tech with an MBA in Operations Management and a PhD in guidance missile under the DRDO. Being called the 'Missile Woman of India' and 'Agni Putri' is an honour she bears proudly, because her role model and mentor, Dr Abdul Kalam, was himself called the Missile Man of India. She draws inspiration from him, and credits him with bringing in openness and teamwork into the DRDO as an organization. He would stop by the desks of all the juniors, she said, and encourage them all in their work. It was a huge motivator for juniors like her to have someone like Dr Abdul Kalam acknowledge and encourage them.

(Excerpted with permission from Kiran Manral's Rising; published by Rupa Publications)