It has already tasted success with the moon mission and Mangalyaan. Is man in space the next frontier for ISRO?
'The unique achievements have been made by engineers from small towns who have had a non elite upbringing and who have grown with the programme,' says R Aravamudan, one of the pioneers of the Indian space programme.
'I like the thought that I am competing successfully with writers much younger than me,' says Ruskin Bond.