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THE FAMILY AND THE NATION
also had an ancient St. Mary Magdalene Church, the Bishop's House and a school. The political class saw it as a difficult situation. Vikram Sarabhai approached the Bishop on a Saturday evening. Rev. Father exclaimed, Vikram, you are asking for my children's abode, my abode and God's abode. How is it possible? Both had a unique quality--they could smile even in difficult situations. Rev Father asked Sarabhai to come to church on Sunday morning.
In the Sunday mass, after the prayers were over, the Bishop invited Vikram Sarabhai to come to the dais and introduced him to the congregation, 'Dear children, here is a scientist. What do sciences do? All of us experience, including this church, the light from electricity. I am able to talk to you through the mike which is made possible by science. The treatment of patients by doctors comes from medical sciences. Science through technology enhances the comfort and quality of human life. What do I do as a preacher? I pray for you, for your well-being, for your peace. In short, what Vikram is doing and what I am doing is: working for well-being of human beings in an integrated way, materially and spiritually. Dear children, Vikram Sarabhai says that he would build within a year alternative facilities for us near the sea coast. Now dear children, can we give our abode, and can we give God's abode, for a great scientific mission? There was total silence, a pin-drop silence. Then all of them got up and said Amen together. Their unified voice made the church building reverberate. This church thus became the starting point for many space-related scientific and technological activities.
Later, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) led to the establishment of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and multiple space centres throughout the country. Today, the church has become an important centre of learning, where thousands of people learn about
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