Haven't targeted anyone in autobiography, says ISRO chief Somanath

ISRO chairman S Somanath was accused of demeaning his predecessor K Sivan in his upcoming autobiography, "Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal," (loosely translated as - Lions that drank the moonlight).

Thiruvananthapuram: ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Saturday said every person would have to go through one some kind of challenges during their journey to reach a top position in an organisation, and that he also came across such difficulties in life.

He said he mentioned some of the challenges he had faced during his decades-long journey in the space agency in his upcoming autobiography, "Nilavu Kudicha Simhangal," (loosely translated as - Lions that drank the moonlight).

"But that is not against any particular individual," he told PTI. Somanath was responding to a report that claimed his autobiography had some critical remarks about his predecessor K Sivan.

"Persons holding such key positions may have to go through several challenges. One among them is the challenges with regard to getting positions in an organisation," he said.

These are challenges that everybody has to go through. "More persons might be eligible for a significant post. I just tried to bring out that particular point. I didn't target any particular individual in this regard," he explained.

He admitted that he mentioned in his book the lack of clarity in connection with the announcement of the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. During the time of landing, it was not clearly said that there was communication failure and it would crash land, he said.

"I believe that a good practice is to tell what has actually happened. It will increase transparency in the organisation. So I referred to that particular incident in the book," Somanath added.

The ISRO Chairman reiterated that his autobiography is an attempt to inspire people who wish to achieve by fighting challenges and obstacles in life and not criticise anyone.

The book is expected to hit the shelves soon.