this book is being released at a time when India's technological endeavours, to assert its sovereignty and strengthen its security, are questioned by many in the world. Historically, people have always fought among themselves on one issue or another.
A few nations who have grown very strong technologically, over the past few centuries, have wrested control, for their own purposes. These major powers have become the self-pro- claimed leaders of the new world order. What does a country of one billion people, like India, do in such a situation? We have no other option but to be technologically strong. But, can India be a leader in the field of technology? My answer is an emphatic 'Yes'. And let me validate my answer by narrat- ing some incidents from my life.
When I first began the reminiscences that have gone into this book, I was uncertain about which of my memories were worth narrating or were of any relevance at all. My childhood is precious to me, but would it be of interest to anyone else? Was it worth the reader's while, I wondered, to know about the tribulations and triumphs of a small-town boy? Of the straitened circumstances of my schooldays, the odd jobs I did to pay my school fees, and how my decision to become a vege- tarian was partly due to my financial constraints as a college student-why should these be of any interest to the general public? In the end, I was convinced that these were relevant,
