'I wanted to become doctor, was a topper in Biology but...': ISRO chief Dr S Somanath reveals why he picked engineering

ISRO Chairman Dr S Somanath recently revealed that he wanted to become a doctor but his father asked him to take engineering or mathematics. "In my home state [Kerala], I was a topper in Biology and aspired to be a doctor," he said during an address at Tamil Nadu Dr MGR University in Chennai. "However, my father asked me to take up Engineering or Math, as the medical profession is very tough and demanding."

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Somanath said his father, who himself was a teacher, once suggested he pick engineering or mathematics as these subjects would help him become a teacher or professor. In an interview a year ago, Somanath had told Congress MP Shashi Tharoor that his father was a science enthusiast and he used to bring books of astronomy, and some books in English.

"My schooling was in the vernacular language, Malayalam, so could not read many of those books at that point in time. But he was talking about science and bringing some science books in Malayalam - I was reading those," the ISRO chief said, adding that he went to engineering "due to many circumstances".

Somanath also revealed that he did not have any specialisation when he graduated. "I was a Mechanical engineer when I graduated. But during the course, I was interested in propulsion," he said. Somanath was recruited by the ISRO when the space agency was starting its PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) project.    

The ISRO chief recently addressed budding doctors at the MGR University in Chennai. During the address, he said that medical professionals should gather knowledge about software and AI tools as the use of these technologies would help in providing better healthcare facilities to the people.

He said in the future, it might be possible to have an embedded medicinal kit in the body. "As and when detected and required, the necessary drug in the specific quantity can be delivered to the targeted site," he said, adding that there is a need to keep humans alive for a long period of time, without ageing.

Somanath, under whose watch ISRO scripted history by successfully landing its Chandryaan-3 on the Moon, said that it was possible to build rockets and spacecraft that can work for several decades and travel into deep space, but "can we pause human life and resume it when required? There are places that we cannot travel to in one lifetime, so such technologies are required. If a human colony has to sustain itself on another planet, the services of Doctors are most essential".