HYDERABAD: She looks like any other middle-aged Indian woman, no-frills saree, minimal make-up and a shy smile. But Tessy Thomas let’s her work do the talking. India’s rocket lady and project director of the just launched Agni-IV missile, Thomas hasn’t let adulation change her. In an exclusive interview with City Express, she talks of her recent achievements, work ethics and about the need to make more youth involved in scientific research.Q. Now that you have returned to Hyderabad after the successful launch of Agni-IV, how do you view your early days in the DRDO and the challenges ahead?It was quite thrilling to see Agni IV complete its trajectory successfully a couple of days back. And I can proudly say the organisation and every employee has come a long way. When I joined in 1988 at the Advanced Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad, it was Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who initiated me into the Agni project. But my mentor and the one who shaped my responsibilities is Avinash Shankar.Every organisation has a maturing period. DRDO too went through that phase and is now well placed technologically to compete with the best. The expected launch of Agni-V being planned in a few months time after Agni-IV shows how far we have come.Q. With DRDO entering the list of elite goverment run organisations in the country, how has it helped improve the quality of workforce at DRDO?Earlier, the number of youth joining the DRDO was less. Until five years back we experienced high levels of attrition with youngsters preferring to work for private companies after a short stint. But now everything has changed. Almost 70 per cent of the 500-plus workforce for the Agni-IV project were youngsters and almost 15 per cent of the organisation’s strength comprise women. The young employees are enthusiastic and ever ready to learn and want to serve the nation, rather work for private companies which pay much higher. The need of the hour is for more such passionate engineers across the country.Q. How do you balance a 20-hour work schedule which involves handling different projects (Agni III, IV, V) with family commitments?My family is my pillar of support. My husband worked with the DRDO for a brief period and hence understands the work responsibilities. Every project, big or small is about team work. In such a scenario, I don’t worry too much about balancing different projects I have been entrusted with.Q. What is your message to Indian youth?Science and mathematics are an integral part in daily life. Youngsters must be encouraged to pursue science courses and further their interests in research and analysis.Q. How different is Tessy the homemaker from Tessy the project manager?I am a stickler for work and expect maximum commitment from my employees. But that’s just part of the job for working in India’s largest defence research organisation. I do not get overly bossy with my junior colleagues though and give them sufficient space to work their ideas.Q. How difficult has it been handling failure, with regards to being a woman and constant media coverage monitoring the progress of any research organisation?Most times the failure of a launch is not a technical fault. So even if the launch is not successful, we manage to gather 30-45 seconds of useful information. We, therefore, try to take positives out of even failures at DRDO. The whole point of research is to constantly improve. With the launch of Agni-V, we hope to move one step further.
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