During his frequent visits to Thumba, Prof. Sarabhai would openly review the progress of the work with the entire team. He never gave directions. Rather, through a free exchange of views, he led us forward into new terrain which often revealed an unforeseen solution. Perhaps he was aware that though a particular goal might be clear to himself, and he could give adequate directions for its accomplishment, his team members might have resisted working towards a goal that made no sense to them. He considered the collective understanding of the problem the main attribute of effective leadership. He once told me, 'Look, my job is to make decisions; but it is equally important to see to it that these decisions are accepted by my team members.'

In fact, Prof. Sarabhai took a series of decision that were to become the life-mission of many. We would make our own rockets, our own Satellite Launch Vehicles (SLVs) and our own satellites. And this would not be done one-by-one but concurrently, in a multi-dimensional fashion.