At 6.04 pm, August 23, all of us were so many little moons, shining with light, and delight, in the reflected glory of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) landing India on the moon. This is an astonishing feat for a country where 26 per cent of the population is illiterate and just 8-9 per cent graduates, and where teeming millions live below or precariously float over the poverty level. India has always been a land of contradictions. India will now also be known as the land where ambitious space explorations are undertaken successfully.

ISRO’s most dramatic accomplishment rebuts those who never tire of recommending the dismantling of the public sector. Conceived in the first decade of India’s Independence, structured to function directly under the Prime Minister’s Office, and funded by the State, ISRO has always blazed a trail throughout its history. Governance at ISRO requires to be studied for fathoming why it has blossomed so spectacularly amidst several public undertakings wilting, including one connected to it.