Dr P Veeramuthuvel, the project director of ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3, has had a scintillating and exciting expedition — from exploring the vast outer space to embarking on an inner journey. The scientist-cum-engineer from Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram said it was always his dream to work at India’s premier space agency and how he was inspired by the concept of “inner engineering” propagated by Isha Foundation’s Sadhguru.
Veeramuthuvel even took the blessings of Sadhguru before he embarked on the “momentous and challenging journey” of steering India’s ambitious moon mission. In an interview to News18, he spoke about the correlation between spirituality and space exploration and also explained how his daughter was thriving as a student of the Isha Samskriti.
A dream come true
As a student of engineering, Veeramuthuvel said, he nurtured the dream to work at ISRO. But it took him some years to get there and, after completing his MTech in mechanical engineering, he spent some years in a private company and worked at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru. During this period, however, he never lost focus on his ultimate destination.
“In 2004, I finally fulfilled my dream. Since then, I have had the privilege of working on a string of challenging assignments in a multidisciplinary environment like ISRO. It has been an immense learning experience as I was assigned various projects on remote sensing satellites, the Mars orbiter mission, also called Mangalyaan and, more recently, Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3. During this period, in 2011, I joined IIT Madras and completed my PhD,” the space scientist said.
On a mission to the moon
Veeramuthuvel further said that after the success of the Mars orbiter, ISRO’s focus shifted to the moon; and he was appointed the associate project director for the Chandrayaan-2 project, which faced a setback as it could not successfully soft-land on the lunar surface.
“Now, the Government of India has given me another mission – Chandrayaan-3. In November 2019, the chairman of ISRO and the director of my centre appointed me the project director for this next lunar mission. Before embarking on this momentous and challenging journey, I sought Sadhguru’s blessings. It was my good fortune that I met Sadhguru in person with my wife at the Isha Yoga Centre and got his blessings as well as good wishes for the success of this project. We are aiming to make a soft landing on the lunar surface and become the fourth country in the world to achieve this after the US, China and Russia,” he said.
Inner experience vs space research
Though space exploration has made progress and scientists across the world are striving hard to explore outer space with the help of cutting-edge technology, what is known about outer space is still limited as compared to the mystics who have “fascinating and profound insights into our inner as well as outer spaces”, said Veeramuthuvel.
“We have been sending satellites to the moon, Mars and one is being planned even to Venus. I have read the best scientific journals, my research papers have been published in highly reputed journals, and even as the project director of Chandrayaan-3, I have spent a lot of time studying how to build a landing vehicle, how to achieve a safe and soft landing on an unknown terrain, and how to master satellite technology. I have seen cutting-edge technology, but still, I would say that our exploration and the information we have gathered about other planets are quite limited,” he said.
But, he pointed out, that listening to Sadhguru speak on these subjects had led him to realise that whatever understanding he had was experiential. “I believe that yoga or turning inward is the best way to gain in-depth experiential knowledge about everything – even space. The scientific community, on the other hand, will have to invest a lot of money and time to understand outer space and, even then, the knowledge acquired may be very limited,” he added.
Launching inner exploration
Veeramuthuvel said in 2009, he learned about Sadhguru’s “inner engineering” from one of his friends. “I saw a marked change in him as he began doing his daily practices. He also told me that he was feeling much better and that made me think. One day, he took me to the Maha Shivaratri event. I stayed awake the whole night, took part in the midnight meditation and felt an intense desire to learn inner engineering. The next time the course was being offered, I got enrolled. At the end of the course, on the seventh day, I could feel a lot of change within myself,” he said.
He added: “Until that point in time, I was not even aware of all these aspects of my inner space. I continued my practice twice daily for the stipulated 40 days, and I felt wonderful. Then I wanted to explore further – all the advanced courses. The very next month, I attended a Hatha yoga programme and followed it up with ‘bhava spandana’ the month after.”
Veeramuthuvel said since he was the project manager for a number of satellites, he could not get too many leaves. So, he would plan in advance and visit the Isha Yoga Centre on certain weeks when he got an extended weekend. “I attended Isha programmes, poojas, volunteered at the yoga centre and completed different courses – Shakti Chalana Kriya, Shoonya meditation and Samyama. Soon, I also joined the Ishanga partnership with Sadhguru and started contributing to various Isha projects for the benefit of people,” he said, adding that though his work now prevents him from volunteering, he is regular with his two-hour practice.
Isha Samskriti: Perfect liftoff for a child
The scientist said his wife was also inspired by him and attended an ‘inner engineering retreat’ at the yoga centre in 2010. This became a turning point for her and she became an Isha follower. “Every day, we start our sadhana together at 5 am with guru pooja. During our visits to the yoga centre, we were quite impressed by the Isha Samskriti style of education and the profound impact it has on students. This led us to a decision – we wanted to put our daughter in Isha Samskriti. In fact, my wife was more keen on following through with this decision,” he said.
Veeramuthuvel said he had been to the best educational institutes like NIT and IIT, earned a doctorate, visited many countries, such as the US and Canada for space studies and international conferences, and was now working at ISRO. But the traditional approach of Isha Samskriti always fascinated him, he said.
“One day, I heard Sadhguru speak on this topic and that impressed me even more. He said Isha Samskriti students are not for the university – they are for the universe. This thought touched me. He also said given the right atmosphere and support for mental and physical growth, a child will naturally thrive and do the best in any circumstance they are put in,” he said.
Optimal atmosphere for a child to thrive
“I do miss my daughter when she is away at Isha Samskriti, but I can console myself because I know that she is in a consecrated space. That itself is a blessing, and also the fact that she is doing her best. We enjoy her company during her 21-day annual break and, when it is time for her to leave, I feel very emotional. But, it is for her good; she’s been in Isha Samskriti for six years now,” Veeramuthuvel said.
The ISRO scientist said every time his daughter visited, he saw a lot of transformation. “Whenever she comes home, she tells us about her stay, the things she has learned, like a classical dance form or something else. It was a delight to watch her perform Bharatanatyam for us. We value her all-round development more than the formal education most children get,” he added.
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