August 23, 2025 • 42 mins
From flipping dosas to flipping the script on who belongs in space, Dr. Srimathy Kesan's journey defies expectations at every turn. After 18 years as a homemaker who could barely remember her English vocabulary, a chance meeting with an old friend led to a Miami conference and an encounter with NASA that would change everything.
"Space chooses you," says Dr. Kesan, the founder of Space Kidz India and the only woman in the world to have launched 27 space missions. Her organization began by taking Indian children to space centers around the world, but she quickly realized that wasn't enough. "What are they going to do next?" she wondered. Despite having no technical background, she decided to teach children to build satellites—and the scientific establishment laughed.
They're not laughing anymore. When Dr. Kesan and her team of rural teenagers created Kalamsat, the world's lightest satellite at just 64 grams, the international space community took notice. Later, when the Indian Space Research Organization challenged her to build a satellite in just six days—during a major festival when most of India was closed—she made 580 phone calls to gather components and pulled off what seemed impossible.
Now she's embarking on her most ambitious project yet: Mission Shakti Sat, which is educating 12,000 girls from 108 countries about satellite building. One girl from each country will travel to India to build a payload destined for the moon. The project operates on small donations rather than major funding, embodying Dr. Kesan's belief that "every girl needs to sit at the table" where decisions are made.
As "Space Mom" to children worldwide, she receives voice messages from girls in remote villages saying, "I don't want to go to school, I just want to do this mission." Her work proves that space exploration isn't just for wealthy nations or scientists with advanced degrees—it's for everyone with the courage to look up at the night sky and dream.
Ready to help launch the next generation of space explorers? Even a small donation can help these girls reach the moon and beyond.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I want to welcome everyone to the Follow Brand
Podcast this particular week.
This is going to be a wonderful, wonderful show.
I get an opportunity to talk tosomeone that I am just so
intrigued about.
She is a space traveler.
How many times do you get tospeak to a space traveler in
your travels?
(00:22):
Well, I get a chance and I'mgoing to bring this opportunity
to all of you because she isjust doing a wonderful,
wonderful job.
She has been called to thismission.
She already told me.
I said hey, how do you go frombeing a homemaker to you?
Know what?
I think?
I want to be a space traveler.
How does that happen?
She said you know what spacechooses you?
(00:43):
That's what she told me.
I want her to introduce herself.
We're going to get thisconversation going immediately,
so please introduce yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I should say from India namaste.
This is Dr Srimati Kaysen,founder CEO of Space Kids India
mission director.
Mission shock reset.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm going to stop it there because I don't want to
give a lengthy introduction now.
And you know, break thesuspense.
Oh no, we need to heareverything you got.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So, dr Sri Mati, I want to make sure that I'm
pronouncing that correctlybecause, no, I was in Florida,
right, a friend of oursintroduced us together.
Yara, she's in Florida as well,but we understand that you got
your start because you weredoing international travel,
coming to Florida, gettinginvolved with NASA and then
(01:41):
taking that back to India tostart your program.
Give us a little bit about yourorigin story.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Okay.
So this all happened on the27th of April 2010, when I had
the opportunity to fly about 108children from India all the way
to Kennedy Space Center.
That was the first time we weregetting into NASA.
(02:09):
I mean, for Indians, you know,we or our parents rather hop so
much on education and everylittle bit they want us to learn
.
You know, they think.
You know my child should be anEdison, should be an Archimedes,
(02:29):
should also be a Usain Bolt ohmy God, how is that possible?
But that's how you know, indianparents love their children to
be versatile.
You know, whatever, whether wehave one square meal, that's
about it.
Still, I will make sure that mychild is given the best of
(02:51):
education.
So that's how it was when,actually, I first came to.
Probably I should give you abackstory narrative.
You know Backstory narrative.
You know I hail from a citycalled Hyderabad in India, when
it was Andhra Pradesh, the stateof Andhra Pradesh, and I was a
(03:20):
national basketball player, astate athlete, a rifle shooter,
and you know dramatics dance andeverything just fell in place.
So one day I was leading theparade, the first girl to hold a
sword and lead the parade, andthat day the chief guest was the
then general, kv Krishna Rao.
(03:41):
He came and he called for myfather after the parade.
Soon after the parade, hecalled for my father and he said
oh my God, your daughter is soversatile.
I think we want such girls inthe armed forces.
If I have to tell you whichyard this is, oh my God, people
will start calculating.
(04:01):
Oh my God, this is a naughty.
Okay, this was in 1992.
And I was an 18-year-old girl,in my second year of graduation,
and so the general mentioned tomy dad, probably after her
graduation, we will give her therecommendations and everything
(04:21):
and she can just get into thearmed forces.
And my father said wow, youknow, that's such a pride and
honor and everything.
And finally he pulled out mywedding invitation and Grant.
The same day evening we wereleaving to another city called
(04:43):
Chennai, where I live now, formy wedding.
Okay, the very same day weleave for my wedding and a week
later I get married.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Wow, that's coming together very quickly yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So it's from SWOD.
I directly jump into spatulafor a miniature.
I mean, what do I say?
An elongated thin donut orpizza, pizza base.
You call it a dosa, Dosa.
So you flip the dosas with thespatula.
So, from SWOT, I directlyjumped into flipping the dosas
(05:42):
and making beautiful pancakesand everything for my family.
Yeah, From there it was 18years of being at home.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Okay okay okay, Wow big difference.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
So it was more of.
I get to interact only withpeople of domestic utilities, so
I get to speak only thevernacular language.
I, you know, I literally forgethow to converse in English.
I forget the vocabulary,because if you're going to be
(06:20):
conversing in English here, theplace I live in, back, then
people would say, oh, she's notan American.
I don't know why she wants toput up this accent and why she
wants to do all this.
She might as well talk to us inour vernacular language.
So you're so scared you don'twant to do anything of that sort
.
So you know, you startconversing in the vernacular
(06:42):
language, and 18 years, you canimagine.
So I just go drop my daughter.
I had a daughter immediately.
So I drop her at school, bringher back, take her to classes.
I make lovely dishes for myfamily.
It was a joint family.
I had my brother-in-law,mother-in-law, everybody with me
, so you take care of them.
(07:02):
So it was completely domestic.
But one thing was different.
Without the knowledge of myfamily, I wanted to do something
to keep my soul satisfied.
I wanted to do something thatcould be useful for the society.
I wanted to do something.
To take my name Srimati, thepurpose of my birth.
(07:28):
I wanted to understand why Iwas born.
So I would go up to the terrace, I would go to the moon, I
would just throw everything toher, speak to her, ask her good
day, bad day, happy, sad,everything.
I would speak to her.
It was so fabulous.
And suddenly, after 18 years, Iget to meet a friend of mine
(07:49):
from my college days, from myNCC days.
She comes like a messiah, likean angel, holds my hand, brings
me out, gives me that confidenceto say hey, you spoke so much
when you were in the NCC, whyaren't you doing anything now?
I said I'm doing.
I'm doing a lot of pancakes andeverything making people happy.
She said yes, you're makingpeople at home happy.
(08:11):
What is it about your soul?
I said yes, without my peopleknowing.
I've done choreography.
I've done about 55 Ram showschoreography.
I've lent my voice fordocumentaries and ad films.
I would do scripting,translation, anything you name
it, just for the happiness ofsoul satisfaction.
(08:32):
But she came in and she saidthere is a conference in Miami.
I will nominate you.
It's an all-paid trip and Ithink you should definitely go
for it.
And that's where destiny againcame into my life, completely
transitioned, and I get thepermission to travel.
(08:55):
See, you need to takepermissions here in India.
It's not that, hey, I willtravel, go there.
Know I can't do that.
You cannot enter the houseafter you're back.
So you know so many things youhad to manage and my daughter
was like a little angel.
She said she will take care ofeverything.
And so six hours before theflight, I get everybody's
(09:19):
permission and okay, to go toMiami.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Six hours yes.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And I went there and that's where I get to see the
coast directors, kennedy SpaceCenter coast directors.
I interact with them and theytell me that there is something
so beautiful here that childrencan come learn you know and go
back and apply that come learnyou know and go back and apply
(09:46):
that.
I got so intrigued and I said,yes, this is my calling and
that's my first step.
I wouldn't want to speak aboutthe challenges in anything,
because every life, every person, has got humongous challenges
in life, so I wouldn't want tospeak about that.
But yes, april 27, 2010, thefirst flight that took 108 of us
(10:08):
there to NASA.
And that's how we began.
I began Space Kids India.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
The audience has got to be asking right now.
Like you know, I see Srimati,but I also see this yellow and
black metal thing next to herand we're just curious about
that.
Like what is that?
Give us some background.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Beautiful Prat.
Thank you for asking me.
This is very, very close to myheart mission.
So from us, you know, takingchildren to NASA.
If I have to give you a littlecontinuity to it, so 2010, 2010
until 2015.
I was, you know, kind of takingchildren to Kennedy Space Center
(11:04):
, then to the Russian SpaceCenter, then to European Space
Agency.
I was given the ambassadorstatus to all the three research
center research camps, so theone privileged one in the
country.
And from there I said what isit?
I am, you know, giving back tothese children, apart from
(11:27):
taking them here, showing themdreams, just taking them back,
and suddenly everything isvanished.
What are they going to do next?
That was a huge question.
So touching these rockets andsatellites, you know that really
got into me, that we've gotsuch a huge youth population in
our country.
What are we going to do withthem?
(11:48):
Why not introduce satellitebuilding?
Why not get into it?
You know it's crazy.
I know this is how peoplelaughed at me, because I come
from a commerce background.
And you talk about aerospaceand you talk about building
(12:10):
satellites, you can say thisgirl is gone crazy, you know.
But I said I may not be able tobuild a satellite, but I
canpick children who can buildsatellites.
We can be there.
And it is nowhere written thata commerce grad cannot learn the
(12:32):
nuances and techniques ofbuilding a satellite.
I may not be able to spell theright jargons, but, yes, you can
learn that right.
So that's how learned got intothis industry started off with
the balloon sat in 2015.
And today, with absolutehumility I wish to say, the only
(12:55):
woman founder in the world tohave launched 27 space missions,
and this baby sitting here isthe Azadi Sat or the Freedom Sat
.
You know this is being built by750 rural girls of India from
(13:22):
the length and breadth of India,kashmir to Kanyakumari, and
this was for the 75th Indianindependence.
So if there is no rural India,there is no independence, and if
there is no independence andfreedom for a girl child, there
is no freedom for anybody in theworld.
(13:43):
So I wanted to bring all ofthem, teach them this child.
There is no freedom for anybodyin the world.
So I wanted to bring all ofthem, teach them this, get them
to understand what is space andsatellite, and wanted to have an
inclusive society.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yes, yeah, the baby.
That is a great.
What a beautiful vision and Iam so glad that the space
program took you seriouslybecause you were taking them
seriously, your team.
You developed also the Columsa,which is the world's lightest
(14:17):
satellite.
It weighs about 64 grams, I'vebeen told.
I want to understand from yourlens why do you believe small,
affordable satellites like thisare game changers for the future
of space research and education?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Brilliant.
Kalamsat is actually the gamechanger for not only Space Kids
India but a lot of children toget into the space industry, not
only in India but across theglobe.
Because until then peoplethought if it was a satellite it
was built in tons, you know,but actually, to be honest, we
(15:00):
didn't have the money to buildthat.
So, necessity, mother ofinvention, we wanted to build
something small and we wanted toprove.
Because the moment we decidedto build satellite and then we
went and approached the indianspace research organization, the
scientists there, you know, itwas literally like.
(15:22):
You know, we had some pictures,had some printouts and
everything.
We took them to the scientistsand we handed over to them and
they were like, don't tell me,this is your team.
My team consisted of 14 until 18years.
You know, of seven kids, allfrom rural India.
(15:43):
You know, all boys, and I wasthe youngest of the lot, the
only girl, and we go there, wemake a presentation.
They were all excited, but theonly thing they said was this is
not the age to do that.
Please go back, study, you needto complete your graduation,
(16:03):
master's and all of it, and comeback.
We are here for you to support.
That was beautiful, but thefirst step taken to do something
.
I didn't want to get back andyou the frequent travel to
Florida and you know everywherewhere there were startups
(16:23):
mushrooming in the garages thatgave me the confidence and said
let's do this, let's try.
I mean, we don't want to losesomething.
But indeed it was difficultbecause you needed to get
approvals if you had to sendsomething up in space.
So they were not willing togive you the permissions.
They said if you're going to dothis, you need to give us an
(16:44):
indemnity bond or you will beput behind bars.
If anything happened to theaircraft, you will be behind the
bars.
Dr Case, oh, I was not a doctorthen.
Yeah, this is Srimati.
So that was very, verydifficult and but I said, let us
(17:04):
try.
Science means experimenting andso on.
So that's where we took thefirst step of launching the
balloon.
And subsequently, the same day,we get to hear about a
competition there where nasa wasthe launch provider and we had,
yes, we, yes.
(17:26):
And Colorado Space GroundConsortium was the knowledge
partner and CIS you know theywere.
You know they announced Cubesin Space, announced the
competition.
Yeah, that, you know, we got tosee that the same day.
I mean, I have to tell youeverything was destiny.
I feel you know, whatever youwanted, your soul wanted your
(17:50):
soul earned for it for so long.
You threw up to the universecontinuously and I think that
was just laying the path for you.
So there was a competitionannounced by Cubes in Space that
if you can build any scienceexperiment, you know the rules
were like you need to build itwithin 64 grams and we will send
(18:12):
you a box.
You need to put it in that, youneed to send it out and
whichever is the best, we willsend it to space free of cost.
It was a suborbital mission,but the free of cost really
attracted us and we said, comeon, let's do this Instead of
doing a small experiment.
(18:34):
We said, why not, you know,build a 3D printed payload?
3d printed payload, 3D printingwas just coming up in 2015 and
2017.
This was 2017.
So we built 3D printed, wedesigned and you know we got it
printed and we got thecomponents and everything
(18:56):
electronics and coding done andeverything we shipped.
And, to our surprise, to such agreat response from them
Colorado's Pwaste GrantConsortium, chris Collar, the
director, he mailed and he saidI literally fell off the chair,
dr Kiesan.
I mean, how come you guys gotthis idea?
(19:18):
And you?
I mean, it's all small children, young adults doing this in
India.
He was so surprised and theyhelped us so much.
Miss Amber, she was sosupportive and we flew the
Terrier Orion rocket and it wassuch a priceless moment, I have
(19:43):
to tell you Such a preciousmoment, and that's when the
whole world took a notice aboutus.
900 media covered us across theglobe.
Until then, you won't believe,grant the audacity of a
journalist.
He asked me oh, did you reallysend a satellite to US?
(20:10):
Can you show us the courierbill?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You know.
So it was like that.
But then when Telegraph, NewYork Post and all these people
started publishing about it,they went gaga.
So that was the story of Kalam,and we owe it all to Dr Kalam,
our ex-president, and he's astudent person.
(20:36):
That's why we named it KalamSet person.
That's why we named it,columset.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I'm telling you that is such a story.
It is almost unbelievable, yetit is true.
I mean you've worked with NASA,you've worked with ESEA, you've
even flown on a zero gravitymission with astronauts.
My question is this becausethis is remarkable, your whole
(21:03):
story is remarkable and I wantthe audience to truly lean in on
all the things that you'retalking about, because where
your origin was and then whereyou're at and you've developed
the satellite is flown in space.
You've got everybody tuning in.
The question is how hasinternational collaboration
shaped now the growth of SpaceKids, india and India's presence
(21:28):
in global space exploration?
Have you seen an impact?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
A lot.
That's why I'm here with youtoday on this special podcast,
grant, and thanks to Yara, mydear darling friend, for this.
But yes, internationalcollaboration, I mean the moment
we launched our payload throughNASA, the entire world took
(21:56):
notice of us and they felt thatthere was something new.
And the student community,especially the student community
they had a new source ofinspiration, a new source of
light that, hey, it's not thatwe need to launch big satellites
(22:18):
, we can do small payloads and acountry like India can launch
its satellites privately, astudent-built, you know, a team
of students built through NASA.
I mean that was huge, that wasreally huge.
(22:39):
So all this meant a lot for us,really a lot for us, because we
could communicate, andcommunication was the key for
collaboration at Embry-Riddleprofessors at, you know,
(23:00):
university of Central Florida.
So whenever we built all thesemissions, we had people around
who could say, hey, maybe youneed to look at this, you need
to look at that.
So that way, collaborationsreally was a key for all our
successes.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
I have to tell you, I tell you what I'm listening to.
This is wonderful.
I mean, you often said and youeven said this before we jumped
on that space is for everyone,not just for scientists, not
just for engineers.
And with that kind of vision,how do you see space science as
(23:39):
a tool for equity andempowerment, especially for
underserved youth around theworld?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Ron, thanks for this question, because that's our
upcoming mission.
Mission Shakti said.
Shakti means power in India.
Yes, mission shakti sat.
(24:09):
Shakti means power in india.
Yes, so, and you know, uh, Ilove to advocate for women and
girls.
You know, there are only 14 to19 percent of girls in the stem
industry, leave alone spaceindustry.
In the space industry, in thebrass, it's only about 3 to 4%
of girls.
So where are we going to lookfor inspiration?
Yes, and it is always.
(24:32):
I am sorry, but it is alwaysUnited States of America.
People there, because they haveso many opportunities.
And around the globe, peoplestill have internet as a luxury.
Yes, but we cannot keep sayingthat, oh my God, internet itself
(24:54):
is a luxury.
One child, you know, onenotebook is shared by 10 people.
Okay, okay.
So that means to say are wegoing to invest only on
notebooks?
One child, you know, onenotebook is shared by 10 people.
Okay, okay.
So that means to say are wegoing to invest only on
notebooks?
And are we going to invest onlyon laying roads?
Are we going to invest only onschool fees and college tuition
fees?
No, because space is the future,and if space is the future,
(25:19):
every country has the right towork in it.
Every country has to have itsustainable.
They need to have theirstudents, their people, working
in it.
They cannot always buildsomething.
Carry it either to the UnitedStates, carry it to Russia,
(25:40):
carry it to India or China.
No, they are blessed withlandmass, they are blessed with
resources, they are blessed withpeople.
It is just the technology.
So invest a bit in technology.
And we Indians believe that thewhole universe is one family.
(26:02):
So if I am going to eat a pizzatoday, if my fellow brother or
sister is hungry, it's a shameon us.
It's a shame on us.
So, similarly, education is likethat and space is more so.
That's the reason embarked onthis journey of bringing in 108
(26:28):
countries together, 12,000 girlchildren.
Educate them in space andsatellite building.
Give them that education first.
So we have built about 21modules for them exclusive.
We have built a learningmanagement platform.
(26:49):
So we put everything in that.
We have identified sisters whoare also having the same similar
thought, are also having thesame similar thought, and 108
sisters who are helping usacross the globe to identify
children.
Tell them, give them thatawareness of space, and they
(27:15):
have started accessing theplatform and started studying
about space and satellite making.
So at the end of 21 modules,which is the end of November or
first week of December, we'regoing to be handpicking one
child from each country,bringing them to India and
building a payload that's goingto the moon.
(27:38):
All right, that is Shakti themoon.
All right, that is Shakti sex.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Wow, you have now blown me away.
That's a game-changing move.
I love your energy, I love whatyou're doing because you're
actually doing it.
You're just not talking thetalk, you're walking the walk.
You've already had some success.
Now you're going to increasethat success and increase it,
for so many, especially younggirls, are going to be so
(28:06):
inspired by what you're doingand when they want to be a part
of this, they want to be thatperson that you choose to go to
India and get a project thatgoes to the moon.
And I know here at Five StarBDM, we talk a lot about being
brave, brave leadership, beingbold.
That's a bold move Resilient,authentic, visionary and ethical
.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
I want to know was there a moment on your journey
where you had to choose boldnessover fear or resilience over
comfort over comfort If I haveto tell you my whole life,
(28:52):
because the first step, thefirst satellite that we built,
that was going into orbit, wewere given six days time.
You know our chairman, indianSpace Research Organization, dr
Shivan, and Dr Uma Maheshwaran Iwish to spell both their names
(29:12):
because Dr Uma Maheshwarancalled for us, called for a
meeting Because it's very, veryI'm talking about end of 2018
grant, wherein it was very, verydifficult to penetrate into the
walls of Israel.
So we were given an opportunitybecause I didn't rest after our
(29:35):
balloon satellite and afterbuilding the world's lightest
satellite, I did not rest.
I said no, no, the tongue wantsmore.
You've tasted success once, soit doesn't stop there.
It, you know we need to getmore children, more children,
you know, spread this awarenessmore and more.
So, you know, enhance the teamand that we get this opportunity
(29:57):
to go and meet our chairman.
And and you know I have to tellyou, the air condition in that
room was 19 degrees, thetemperature inside the room was
19 degrees, but I was sweating,so tensed and stressed, because
(30:17):
it's not easy to meet ourchairman and when we get an
invite like this, I can't tellyou.
It was such a moment.
And he said we give you sixdays to build a satellite
because we are going to betesting the fourth stage of our
rocket.
Because every time the pslb,the rocket that goes up the
(30:39):
indian rocket, the fourth stageof our rocket, because every
time the PSLB, the rocket thatgoes up the Indian rocket, the
fourth stage goes empty, becauseafter that it comes out and it
falls into the ocean.
It works for two, three daysand it falls into the ocean.
So we thought we will make useof that.
So we want to test, try yourpayload, your satellite, but if
(31:05):
you are able to build that insix days we will give you free
of cost.
And you wouldn't believe thattime we had a huge festival in
India where most of India isclosed and the whole of that
(31:27):
week it's closed.
And you won't believe Grant Imade between Israel and the
airport.
It takes about an hour's time toreach the airport.
I made 580 calls just to seewho all can support us Because
(31:48):
we needed components.
We needed a small 10-gramcomponent needed to come from US
, small 10 gram component neededto come from US.
So I had to speak to so manypeople.
If they could come and bringand leave it with us.
You know the pilot or somebodyand you know we could start
working.
I could have just gone, met theyou know chairman, just taken
(32:13):
his photograph, came back home,had sweets for the festival and
nicely slept.
But, on the contrary, what didI do?
Yes, you did it, and 24thJanuary 2019 was our first
orbital mission.
I mean, I can tell you, thechairman of Israel brought us to
(32:38):
the podium.
It has never happened in thehistory of Israel.
He brought us to the podium andhe said these are brave guys.
Yes, I'm so proud of them thatthey built this payload in six
days' time and I'm so excitedthat they've done a great job.
(32:59):
I mean, what else can you askfor?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
That right there, I mean talking about resilience,
describe the definition ofresilience, describe the
definition of bravery of itself.
That is just an incredible notjust an incredible story,
incredible accomplishment foryou and everyone involved.
I mean, it's just that's theapplause from the entire
(33:27):
audience that's listening to thepodcast right now.
And, as we conclude, I want youto talk to that young girl.
I want you to imagine a younggirl from a small village right
now, small village, who'slooking up into that night sky,
who's looking at the moon andsays I want to build a satellite
(33:51):
.
What would you say to mentorand inspire her right now?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Did you sneak peek into my WhatsApp?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
You know what I actually teared up last weekend?
We're bringing in star speakersto ignite the little minds.
Little minds, these young girlswho are a part of Mission Shock
Descent.
We had an astronaut's feet lastweek, after which, you know one
(34:36):
girl from a village in Chilethat is the last village which
is connecting Chile andAntarctica.
You know, yeah, she falls up,she tears up and she says how on
earth, dr Kaysen, did you eventhink of a mission like this?
(34:58):
I didn't imagine I was going todo something like this, but
today my heart goes.
A 14-year-old child talkingabout it.
I am so excited.
I don't want to go to school, Ijust want to do this mission.
I want to launch satellites andI want to help my friends here
(35:20):
in my village.
It is not easy to do thingslike this here, and this is not
the only girl Grant, equatorialGuinea, zimbabwe, madagascar,
seychelles, eswatini, lesotho,samu and our own India.
(35:46):
There are so many girls.
They write to me, they leavevoice notes and it's become like
you.
You know, the moment you givethem those virtual hugs and say
that I'm here for you, don'tworry, children, whatever is
possible, you know we as a teamwill do that for you to best.
(36:08):
So immediately they will saycan we call you mom, like it's
so cute?
And I literally have childrenacross the globe and all of them
call me hey space, mom.
(36:29):
We love you space mom, I get somany messages.
We love you space, mom.
But, grant, you know what?
This is not easy.
You know, yeah, this is noteasy because we don't have tons
of money, we don't havesupporters, we don't have big
people, you know, supporting themission or everything.
(36:50):
It's literally, I would say,children.
You know what I am begging fora dollar.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
If the entire world feels that this is so important
for our girls, they don't needto give big donations, even $1,
$10 from each of them.
I think we can build a spacemission to the moon, space
mission to Mars, space missionto Venus.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
We're going to do it.
I think what you just saidthere and I want you to have a
call to action.
As you said, we don't need, oryou don't need, for space kits,
for your organization, largedonations, but however you think
about that, everybody listeningnow, everybody listening now
(37:37):
can spare $1, $5, $10, $50, $100to send, and then you will be a
part of that mission.
You will be in space with thesechildren.
Think about your own kids Like,wow, I want to start this in my
own community.
How can I get involved?
Well, you got to get involvedwith Space Mom.
You got to get involved withSpace Kids, space Kids India.
(38:00):
This can be, and it should be, aworldwide initiative because
you've done something phenomenal.
So many people can identifywith you.
Yes, I wasn't doing a lot in myworld, but I have a mission.
I want something I think I canadd to the world, and you took
(38:21):
it on your own and you took 180kids from India to the United
States, got involved with NASA,and then you're now you're
building and launchingsatellites.
Talk about a STEM program inscience, technology, engineering
and math.
Whoa, I'm just so happy withyou.
(38:42):
But I got to ask you this,because I ask my guests this
always in real time.
I like having real time.
How did you like yourappearance on the Follow the
Brand podcast?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
It was like I was just conversing with a good
friend of me, sharing my heartout.
It was not, you know, you'vejust touched the right cards.
So that's where, you know, Iwas able to bring out so many
things and share everything sohonestly from the bottom of my
heart.
(39:18):
So it was not like a formalpodcast where you are like, hey,
grant, yes, grant, it was notlike that.
It was no real question session.
This was pure fun butthought-provoking.
I'm sure this isthought-provoking, fun and truly
(39:38):
appreciate, truly appreciateyour time for bringing in.
You know from india.
I know you we have thiscatalyst called miyara, but all
the way, you know you needed toachieve to have the space mom on
your show.
I love having a space mom on myshow.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
This has been wonderful, wonderful.
You've got to tell us becauseI'm sure everybody's sitting
there like how can we donate,how do we get in touch with you?
How am I going to get my kidsto?
You've got modules, you've gotteaching programs.
What do they have to do?
Speaker 2 (40:16):
They just have to write an email to us.
We have space kids india atgmailcom and we have mission
shop these at an exclusive webpage and insta page and
everything so they can startfollowing us, they can write to
us and they can be a part of us.
You know, everybody says whydon't you have this as a private
mission?
Get who we see to do it,because it's a big mission, it's
(40:39):
a wonderful mission.
I says no, no, no, no.
You know that can be done bymany people, but to make
everybody responsible for thedime they send is very important
, because they need to feel thatevery girl has a right.
Every girl needs to sit thereon the table, because only then
(41:02):
decisions will be made alongside, with empathy and love and not
egoistic.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I love that.
I love that.
I am so happy about that.
When you said that, I thinkabout my granddaughter.
We call her Ellie.
She's four years old man.
I can't wait to get her intoSpace Mom.
I got a newgreat-great-grandchild that
Space Mom already.
Space Kids is something you canparticipate in.
You don't just have to watch itfrom afar.
(41:37):
I love what you just said.
I definitely want to inviteyour entire network to continue
to tune in to all the episodesof Follow the Brand, because
we're bringing this type ofcontent to the table that is so
full and rich and exciting andpositive for all of us to
educate ourselves, to getknowledge and applied knowledge,
(41:57):
which is so important.
So I encourage our entireaudience to visit us at 5 Star
BDM that is, b for brand, d fordevelopment infomancerscom.
This has been wonderful.
I want to thank you again somuch for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Thank you, Grant.
And one last thing I want tosay.
It's Space Kids India, with a Z, not an S.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
All right, that's a big difference so we can get to
that website.
That is so cool.
Unforgettable moments on theFollow Brand Podcast with the
doctor.
I thank you so much again forbeing with us, but I'm going to
call you Space Mom, that's myname for you.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Thank you, thank you and namaste again from India.
I want to welcome everyone to the Follow Brand
Podcast this particular week.
This is going to be a wonderful, wonderful show.
I get an opportunity to talk tosomeone that I am just so
intrigued about.
She is a space traveler.
How many times do you get tospeak to a space traveler in
your travels?
(00:22):
Well, I get a chance and I'mgoing to bring this opportunity
to all of you because she isjust doing a wonderful,
wonderful job.
She has been called to thismission.
She already told me.
I said hey, how do you go frombeing a homemaker to you?
Know what?
I think?
I want to be a space traveler.
How does that happen?
She said you know what spacechooses you?
(00:43):
That's what she told me.
I want her to introduce herself.
We're going to get thisconversation going immediately,
so please introduce yourself.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I should say from India namaste.
This is Dr Srimati Kaysen,founder CEO of Space Kids India
mission director.
Mission shock reset.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm going to stop it there because I don't want to
give a lengthy introduction now.
And you know, break thesuspense.
Oh no, we need to heareverything you got.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So, dr Sri Mati, I want to make sure that I'm
pronouncing that correctlybecause, no, I was in Florida,
right, a friend of oursintroduced us together.
Yara, she's in Florida as well,but we understand that you got
your start because you weredoing international travel,
coming to Florida, gettinginvolved with NASA and then
(01:41):
taking that back to India tostart your program.
Give us a little bit about yourorigin story.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Okay.
So this all happened on the27th of April 2010, when I had
the opportunity to fly about 108children from India all the way
to Kennedy Space Center.
That was the first time we weregetting into NASA.
(02:09):
I mean, for Indians, you know,we or our parents rather hop so
much on education and everylittle bit they want us to learn
.
You know, they think.
You know my child should be anEdison, should be an Archimedes,
(02:29):
should also be a Usain Bolt ohmy God, how is that possible?
But that's how you know, indianparents love their children to
be versatile.
You know, whatever, whether wehave one square meal, that's
about it.
Still, I will make sure that mychild is given the best of
(02:51):
education.
So that's how it was when,actually, I first came to.
Probably I should give you abackstory narrative.
You know Backstory narrative.
You know I hail from a citycalled Hyderabad in India, when
it was Andhra Pradesh, the stateof Andhra Pradesh, and I was a
(03:20):
national basketball player, astate athlete, a rifle shooter,
and you know dramatics dance andeverything just fell in place.
So one day I was leading theparade, the first girl to hold a
sword and lead the parade, andthat day the chief guest was the
then general, kv Krishna Rao.
(03:41):
He came and he called for myfather after the parade.
Soon after the parade, hecalled for my father and he said
oh my God, your daughter is soversatile.
I think we want such girls inthe armed forces.
If I have to tell you whichyard this is, oh my God, people
will start calculating.
(04:01):
Oh my God, this is a naughty.
Okay, this was in 1992.
And I was an 18-year-old girl,in my second year of graduation,
and so the general mentioned tomy dad, probably after her
graduation, we will give her therecommendations and everything
(04:21):
and she can just get into thearmed forces.
And my father said wow, youknow, that's such a pride and
honor and everything.
And finally he pulled out mywedding invitation and Grant.
The same day evening we wereleaving to another city called
(04:43):
Chennai, where I live now, formy wedding.
Okay, the very same day weleave for my wedding and a week
later I get married.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Wow, that's coming together very quickly yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
So it's from SWOD.
I directly jump into spatulafor a miniature.
I mean, what do I say?
An elongated thin donut orpizza, pizza base.
You call it a dosa, Dosa.
So you flip the dosas with thespatula.
So, from SWOT, I directlyjumped into flipping the dosas
(05:42):
and making beautiful pancakesand everything for my family.
Yeah, From there it was 18years of being at home.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Okay okay okay, Wow big difference.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
So it was more of.
I get to interact only withpeople of domestic utilities, so
I get to speak only thevernacular language.
I, you know, I literally forgethow to converse in English.
I forget the vocabulary,because if you're going to be
(06:20):
conversing in English here, theplace I live in, back, then
people would say, oh, she's notan American.
I don't know why she wants toput up this accent and why she
wants to do all this.
She might as well talk to us inour vernacular language.
So you're so scared you don'twant to do anything of that sort
.
So you know, you startconversing in the vernacular
(06:42):
language, and 18 years, you canimagine.
So I just go drop my daughter.
I had a daughter immediately.
So I drop her at school, bringher back, take her to classes.
I make lovely dishes for myfamily.
It was a joint family.
I had my brother-in-law,mother-in-law, everybody with me
, so you take care of them.
(07:02):
So it was completely domestic.
But one thing was different.
Without the knowledge of myfamily, I wanted to do something
to keep my soul satisfied.
I wanted to do something thatcould be useful for the society.
I wanted to do something.
To take my name Srimati, thepurpose of my birth.
(07:28):
I wanted to understand why Iwas born.
So I would go up to the terrace, I would go to the moon, I
would just throw everything toher, speak to her, ask her good
day, bad day, happy, sad,everything.
I would speak to her.
It was so fabulous.
And suddenly, after 18 years, Iget to meet a friend of mine
(07:49):
from my college days, from myNCC days.
She comes like a messiah, likean angel, holds my hand, brings
me out, gives me that confidenceto say hey, you spoke so much
when you were in the NCC, whyaren't you doing anything now?
I said I'm doing.
I'm doing a lot of pancakes andeverything making people happy.
She said yes, you're makingpeople at home happy.
(08:11):
What is it about your soul?
I said yes, without my peopleknowing.
I've done choreography.
I've done about 55 Ram showschoreography.
I've lent my voice fordocumentaries and ad films.
I would do scripting,translation, anything you name
it, just for the happiness ofsoul satisfaction.
(08:32):
But she came in and she saidthere is a conference in Miami.
I will nominate you.
It's an all-paid trip and Ithink you should definitely go
for it.
And that's where destiny againcame into my life, completely
transitioned, and I get thepermission to travel.
(08:55):
See, you need to takepermissions here in India.
It's not that, hey, I willtravel, go there.
Know I can't do that.
You cannot enter the houseafter you're back.
So you know so many things youhad to manage and my daughter
was like a little angel.
She said she will take care ofeverything.
And so six hours before theflight, I get everybody's
(09:19):
permission and okay, to go toMiami.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Six hours yes.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
And I went there and that's where I get to see the
coast directors, kennedy SpaceCenter coast directors.
I interact with them and theytell me that there is something
so beautiful here that childrencan come learn you know and go
back and apply that come learnyou know and go back and apply
(09:46):
that.
I got so intrigued and I said,yes, this is my calling and
that's my first step.
I wouldn't want to speak aboutthe challenges in anything,
because every life, every person, has got humongous challenges
in life, so I wouldn't want tospeak about that.
But yes, april 27, 2010, thefirst flight that took 108 of us
(10:08):
there to NASA.
And that's how we began.
I began Space Kids India.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
The audience has got to be asking right now.
Like you know, I see Srimati,but I also see this yellow and
black metal thing next to herand we're just curious about
that.
Like what is that?
Give us some background.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Beautiful Prat.
Thank you for asking me.
This is very, very close to myheart mission.
So from us, you know, takingchildren to NASA.
If I have to give you a littlecontinuity to it, so 2010, 2010
until 2015.
I was, you know, kind of takingchildren to Kennedy Space Center
(11:04):
, then to the Russian SpaceCenter, then to European Space
Agency.
I was given the ambassadorstatus to all the three research
center research camps, so theone privileged one in the
country.
And from there I said what isit?
I am, you know, giving back tothese children, apart from
(11:27):
taking them here, showing themdreams, just taking them back,
and suddenly everything isvanished.
What are they going to do next?
That was a huge question.
So touching these rockets andsatellites, you know that really
got into me, that we've gotsuch a huge youth population in
our country.
What are we going to do withthem?
(11:48):
Why not introduce satellitebuilding?
Why not get into it?
You know it's crazy.
I know this is how peoplelaughed at me, because I come
from a commerce background.
And you talk about aerospaceand you talk about building
(12:10):
satellites, you can say thisgirl is gone crazy, you know.
But I said I may not be able tobuild a satellite, but I
canpick children who can buildsatellites.
We can be there.
And it is nowhere written thata commerce grad cannot learn the
(12:32):
nuances and techniques ofbuilding a satellite.
I may not be able to spell theright jargons, but, yes, you can
learn that right.
So that's how learned got intothis industry started off with
the balloon sat in 2015.
And today, with absolutehumility I wish to say, the only
(12:55):
woman founder in the world tohave launched 27 space missions,
and this baby sitting here isthe Azadi Sat or the Freedom Sat
.
You know this is being built by750 rural girls of India from
(13:22):
the length and breadth of India,kashmir to Kanyakumari, and
this was for the 75th Indianindependence.
So if there is no rural India,there is no independence, and if
there is no independence andfreedom for a girl child, there
is no freedom for anybody in theworld.
(13:43):
So I wanted to bring all ofthem, teach them this child.
There is no freedom for anybodyin the world.
So I wanted to bring all ofthem, teach them this, get them
to understand what is space andsatellite, and wanted to have an
inclusive society.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yes, yeah, the baby.
That is a great.
What a beautiful vision and Iam so glad that the space
program took you seriouslybecause you were taking them
seriously, your team.
You developed also the Columsa,which is the world's lightest
(14:17):
satellite.
It weighs about 64 grams, I'vebeen told.
I want to understand from yourlens why do you believe small,
affordable satellites like thisare game changers for the future
of space research and education?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Brilliant.
Kalamsat is actually the gamechanger for not only Space Kids
India but a lot of children toget into the space industry, not
only in India but across theglobe.
Because until then peoplethought if it was a satellite it
was built in tons, you know,but actually, to be honest, we
(15:00):
didn't have the money to buildthat.
So, necessity, mother ofinvention, we wanted to build
something small and we wanted toprove.
Because the moment we decidedto build satellite and then we
went and approached the indianspace research organization, the
scientists there, you know, itwas literally like.
(15:22):
You know, we had some pictures,had some printouts and
everything.
We took them to the scientistsand we handed over to them and
they were like, don't tell me,this is your team.
My team consisted of 14 until 18years.
You know, of seven kids, allfrom rural India.
(15:43):
You know, all boys, and I wasthe youngest of the lot, the
only girl, and we go there, wemake a presentation.
They were all excited, but theonly thing they said was this is
not the age to do that.
Please go back, study, you needto complete your graduation,
(16:03):
master's and all of it, and comeback.
We are here for you to support.
That was beautiful, but thefirst step taken to do something
.
I didn't want to get back andyou the frequent travel to
Florida and you know everywherewhere there were startups
(16:23):
mushrooming in the garages thatgave me the confidence and said
let's do this, let's try.
I mean, we don't want to losesomething.
But indeed it was difficultbecause you needed to get
approvals if you had to sendsomething up in space.
So they were not willing togive you the permissions.
They said if you're going to dothis, you need to give us an
(16:44):
indemnity bond or you will beput behind bars.
If anything happened to theaircraft, you will be behind the
bars.
Dr Case, oh, I was not a doctorthen.
Yeah, this is Srimati.
So that was very, verydifficult and but I said, let us
(17:04):
try.
Science means experimenting andso on.
So that's where we took thefirst step of launching the
balloon.
And subsequently, the same day,we get to hear about a
competition there where nasa wasthe launch provider and we had,
yes, we, yes.
(17:26):
And Colorado Space GroundConsortium was the knowledge
partner and CIS you know theywere.
You know they announced Cubesin Space, announced the
competition.
Yeah, that, you know, we got tosee that the same day.
I mean, I have to tell youeverything was destiny.
I feel you know, whatever youwanted, your soul wanted your
(17:50):
soul earned for it for so long.
You threw up to the universecontinuously and I think that
was just laying the path for you.
So there was a competitionannounced by Cubes in Space that
if you can build any scienceexperiment, you know the rules
were like you need to build itwithin 64 grams and we will send
(18:12):
you a box.
You need to put it in that, youneed to send it out and
whichever is the best, we willsend it to space free of cost.
It was a suborbital mission,but the free of cost really
attracted us and we said, comeon, let's do this Instead of
doing a small experiment.
(18:34):
We said, why not, you know,build a 3D printed payload?
3d printed payload, 3D printingwas just coming up in 2015 and
2017.
This was 2017.
So we built 3D printed, wedesigned and you know we got it
printed and we got thecomponents and everything
(18:56):
electronics and coding done andeverything we shipped.
And, to our surprise, to such agreat response from them
Colorado's Pwaste GrantConsortium, chris Collar, the
director, he mailed and he saidI literally fell off the chair,
dr Kiesan.
I mean, how come you guys gotthis idea?
(19:18):
And you?
I mean, it's all small children, young adults doing this in
India.
He was so surprised and theyhelped us so much.
Miss Amber, she was sosupportive and we flew the
Terrier Orion rocket and it wassuch a priceless moment, I have
(19:43):
to tell you Such a preciousmoment, and that's when the
whole world took a notice aboutus.
900 media covered us across theglobe.
Until then, you won't believe,grant the audacity of a
journalist.
He asked me oh, did you reallysend a satellite to US?
(20:10):
Can you show us the courierbill?
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You know.
So it was like that.
But then when Telegraph, NewYork Post and all these people
started publishing about it,they went gaga.
So that was the story of Kalam,and we owe it all to Dr Kalam,
our ex-president, and he's astudent person.
(20:36):
That's why we named it KalamSet person.
That's why we named it,columset.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I'm telling you that is such a story.
It is almost unbelievable, yetit is true.
I mean you've worked with NASA,you've worked with ESEA, you've
even flown on a zero gravitymission with astronauts.
My question is this becausethis is remarkable, your whole
(21:03):
story is remarkable and I wantthe audience to truly lean in on
all the things that you'retalking about, because where
your origin was and then whereyou're at and you've developed
the satellite is flown in space.
You've got everybody tuning in.
The question is how hasinternational collaboration
shaped now the growth of SpaceKids, india and India's presence
(21:28):
in global space exploration?
Have you seen an impact?
Speaker 2 (21:33):
A lot.
That's why I'm here with youtoday on this special podcast,
grant, and thanks to Yara, mydear darling friend, for this.
But yes, internationalcollaboration, I mean the moment
we launched our payload throughNASA, the entire world took
(21:56):
notice of us and they felt thatthere was something new.
And the student community,especially the student community
they had a new source ofinspiration, a new source of
light that, hey, it's not thatwe need to launch big satellites
(22:18):
, we can do small payloads and acountry like India can launch
its satellites privately, astudent-built, you know, a team
of students built through NASA.
I mean that was huge, that wasreally huge.
(22:39):
So all this meant a lot for us,really a lot for us, because we
could communicate, andcommunication was the key for
collaboration at Embry-Riddleprofessors at, you know,
(23:00):
university of Central Florida.
So whenever we built all thesemissions, we had people around
who could say, hey, maybe youneed to look at this, you need
to look at that.
So that way, collaborationsreally was a key for all our
successes.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
I have to tell you, I tell you what I'm listening to.
This is wonderful.
I mean, you often said and youeven said this before we jumped
on that space is for everyone,not just for scientists, not
just for engineers.
And with that kind of vision,how do you see space science as
(23:39):
a tool for equity andempowerment, especially for
underserved youth around theworld?
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Ron, thanks for this question, because that's our
upcoming mission.
Mission Shakti said.
Shakti means power in India.
Yes, mission shakti sat.
(24:09):
Shakti means power in india.
Yes, so, and you know, uh, Ilove to advocate for women and
girls.
You know, there are only 14 to19 percent of girls in the stem
industry, leave alone spaceindustry.
In the space industry, in thebrass, it's only about 3 to 4%
of girls.
So where are we going to lookfor inspiration?
Yes, and it is always.
(24:32):
I am sorry, but it is alwaysUnited States of America.
People there, because they haveso many opportunities.
And around the globe, peoplestill have internet as a luxury.
Yes, but we cannot keep sayingthat, oh my God, internet itself
(24:54):
is a luxury.
One child, you know, onenotebook is shared by 10 people.
Okay, okay.
So that means to say are wegoing to invest only on
notebooks?
One child, you know, onenotebook is shared by 10 people.
Okay, okay.
So that means to say are wegoing to invest only on
notebooks?
And are we going to invest onlyon laying roads?
Are we going to invest only onschool fees and college tuition
fees?
No, because space is the future,and if space is the future,
(25:19):
every country has the right towork in it.
Every country has to have itsustainable.
They need to have theirstudents, their people, working
in it.
They cannot always buildsomething.
Carry it either to the UnitedStates, carry it to Russia,
(25:40):
carry it to India or China.
No, they are blessed withlandmass, they are blessed with
resources, they are blessed withpeople.
It is just the technology.
So invest a bit in technology.
And we Indians believe that thewhole universe is one family.
(26:02):
So if I am going to eat a pizzatoday, if my fellow brother or
sister is hungry, it's a shameon us.
It's a shame on us.
So, similarly, education is likethat and space is more so.
That's the reason embarked onthis journey of bringing in 108
(26:28):
countries together, 12,000 girlchildren.
Educate them in space andsatellite building.
Give them that education first.
So we have built about 21modules for them exclusive.
We have built a learningmanagement platform.
(26:49):
So we put everything in that.
We have identified sisters whoare also having the same similar
thought, are also having thesame similar thought, and 108
sisters who are helping usacross the globe to identify
children.
Tell them, give them thatawareness of space, and they
(27:15):
have started accessing theplatform and started studying
about space and satellite making.
So at the end of 21 modules,which is the end of November or
first week of December, we'regoing to be handpicking one
child from each country,bringing them to India and
building a payload that's goingto the moon.
(27:38):
All right, that is Shakti themoon.
All right, that is Shakti sex.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Wow, you have now blown me away.
That's a game-changing move.
I love your energy, I love whatyou're doing because you're
actually doing it.
You're just not talking thetalk, you're walking the walk.
You've already had some success.
Now you're going to increasethat success and increase it,
for so many, especially younggirls, are going to be so
(28:06):
inspired by what you're doingand when they want to be a part
of this, they want to be thatperson that you choose to go to
India and get a project thatgoes to the moon.
And I know here at Five StarBDM, we talk a lot about being
brave, brave leadership, beingbold.
That's a bold move Resilient,authentic, visionary and ethical
.
Speaker 2 (28:25):
I want to know was there a moment on your journey
where you had to choose boldnessover fear or resilience over
comfort over comfort If I haveto tell you my whole life,
(28:52):
because the first step, thefirst satellite that we built,
that was going into orbit, wewere given six days time.
You know our chairman, indianSpace Research Organization, dr
Shivan, and Dr Uma Maheshwaran Iwish to spell both their names
(29:12):
because Dr Uma Maheshwarancalled for us, called for a
meeting Because it's very, veryI'm talking about end of 2018
grant, wherein it was very, verydifficult to penetrate into the
walls of Israel.
So we were given an opportunitybecause I didn't rest after our
(29:35):
balloon satellite and afterbuilding the world's lightest
satellite, I did not rest.
I said no, no, the tongue wantsmore.
You've tasted success once, soit doesn't stop there.
It, you know we need to getmore children, more children,
you know, spread this awarenessmore and more.
So, you know, enhance the teamand that we get this opportunity
(29:57):
to go and meet our chairman.
And and you know I have to tellyou, the air condition in that
room was 19 degrees, thetemperature inside the room was
19 degrees, but I was sweating,so tensed and stressed, because
(30:17):
it's not easy to meet ourchairman and when we get an
invite like this, I can't tellyou.
It was such a moment.
And he said we give you sixdays to build a satellite
because we are going to betesting the fourth stage of our
rocket.
Because every time the pslb,the rocket that goes up the
(30:39):
indian rocket, the fourth stageof our rocket, because every
time the PSLB, the rocket thatgoes up the Indian rocket, the
fourth stage goes empty, becauseafter that it comes out and it
falls into the ocean.
It works for two, three daysand it falls into the ocean.
So we thought we will make useof that.
So we want to test, try yourpayload, your satellite, but if
(31:05):
you are able to build that insix days we will give you free
of cost.
And you wouldn't believe thattime we had a huge festival in
India where most of India isclosed and the whole of that
(31:27):
week it's closed.
And you won't believe Grant Imade between Israel and the
airport.
It takes about an hour's time toreach the airport.
I made 580 calls just to seewho all can support us Because
(31:48):
we needed components.
We needed a small 10-gramcomponent needed to come from US
, small 10 gram component neededto come from US.
So I had to speak to so manypeople.
If they could come and bringand leave it with us.
You know the pilot or somebodyand you know we could start
working.
I could have just gone, met theyou know chairman, just taken
(32:13):
his photograph, came back home,had sweets for the festival and
nicely slept.
But, on the contrary, what didI do?
Yes, you did it, and 24thJanuary 2019 was our first
orbital mission.
I mean, I can tell you, thechairman of Israel brought us to
(32:38):
the podium.
It has never happened in thehistory of Israel.
He brought us to the podium andhe said these are brave guys.
Yes, I'm so proud of them thatthey built this payload in six
days' time and I'm so excitedthat they've done a great job.
(32:59):
I mean, what else can you askfor?
Speaker 1 (33:03):
That right there, I mean talking about resilience,
describe the definition ofresilience, describe the
definition of bravery of itself.
That is just an incredible notjust an incredible story,
incredible accomplishment foryou and everyone involved.
I mean, it's just that's theapplause from the entire
(33:27):
audience that's listening to thepodcast right now.
And, as we conclude, I want youto talk to that young girl.
I want you to imagine a younggirl from a small village right
now, small village, who'slooking up into that night sky,
who's looking at the moon andsays I want to build a satellite
(33:51):
.
What would you say to mentorand inspire her right now?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Did you sneak peek into my WhatsApp?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
You know what I actually teared up last weekend?
We're bringing in star speakersto ignite the little minds.
Little minds, these young girlswho are a part of Mission Shock
Descent.
We had an astronaut's feet lastweek, after which, you know one
(34:36):
girl from a village in Chilethat is the last village which
is connecting Chile andAntarctica.
You know, yeah, she falls up,she tears up and she says how on
earth, dr Kaysen, did you eventhink of a mission like this?
(34:58):
I didn't imagine I was going todo something like this, but
today my heart goes.
A 14-year-old child talkingabout it.
I am so excited.
I don't want to go to school, Ijust want to do this mission.
I want to launch satellites andI want to help my friends here
(35:20):
in my village.
It is not easy to do thingslike this here, and this is not
the only girl Grant, equatorialGuinea, zimbabwe, madagascar,
seychelles, eswatini, lesotho,samu and our own India.
(35:46):
There are so many girls.
They write to me, they leavevoice notes and it's become like
you.
You know, the moment you givethem those virtual hugs and say
that I'm here for you, don'tworry, children, whatever is
possible, you know we as a teamwill do that for you to best.
(36:08):
So immediately they will saycan we call you mom, like it's
so cute?
And I literally have childrenacross the globe and all of them
call me hey space, mom.
(36:29):
We love you space mom, I get somany messages.
We love you space, mom.
But, grant, you know what?
This is not easy.
You know, yeah, this is noteasy because we don't have tons
of money, we don't havesupporters, we don't have big
people, you know, supporting themission or everything.
(36:50):
It's literally, I would say,children.
You know what I am begging fora dollar.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
If the entire world feels that this is so important
for our girls, they don't needto give big donations, even $1,
$10 from each of them.
I think we can build a spacemission to the moon, space
mission to Mars, space missionto Venus.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
We're going to do it.
I think what you just saidthere and I want you to have a
call to action.
As you said, we don't need, oryou don't need, for space kits,
for your organization, largedonations, but however you think
about that, everybody listeningnow, everybody listening now
(37:37):
can spare $1, $5, $10, $50, $100to send, and then you will be a
part of that mission.
You will be in space with thesechildren.
Think about your own kids Like,wow, I want to start this in my
own community.
How can I get involved?
Well, you got to get involvedwith Space Mom.
You got to get involved withSpace Kids, space Kids India.
(38:00):
This can be, and it should be, aworldwide initiative because
you've done something phenomenal.
So many people can identifywith you.
Yes, I wasn't doing a lot in myworld, but I have a mission.
I want something I think I canadd to the world, and you took
(38:21):
it on your own and you took 180kids from India to the United
States, got involved with NASA,and then you're now you're
building and launchingsatellites.
Talk about a STEM program inscience, technology, engineering
and math.
Whoa, I'm just so happy withyou.
(38:42):
But I got to ask you this,because I ask my guests this
always in real time.
I like having real time.
How did you like yourappearance on the Follow the
Brand podcast?
Speaker 2 (38:58):
It was like I was just conversing with a good
friend of me, sharing my heartout.
It was not, you know, you'vejust touched the right cards.
So that's where, you know, Iwas able to bring out so many
things and share everything sohonestly from the bottom of my
heart.
(39:18):
So it was not like a formalpodcast where you are like, hey,
grant, yes, grant, it was notlike that.
It was no real question session.
This was pure fun butthought-provoking.
I'm sure this isthought-provoking, fun and truly
(39:38):
appreciate, truly appreciateyour time for bringing in.
You know from india.
I know you we have thiscatalyst called miyara, but all
the way, you know you needed toachieve to have the space mom on
your show.
I love having a space mom on myshow.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
This has been wonderful, wonderful.
You've got to tell us becauseI'm sure everybody's sitting
there like how can we donate,how do we get in touch with you?
How am I going to get my kidsto?
You've got modules, you've gotteaching programs.
What do they have to do?
Speaker 2 (40:16):
They just have to write an email to us.
We have space kids india atgmailcom and we have mission
shop these at an exclusive webpage and insta page and
everything so they can startfollowing us, they can write to
us and they can be a part of us.
You know, everybody says whydon't you have this as a private
mission?
Get who we see to do it,because it's a big mission, it's
(40:39):
a wonderful mission.
I says no, no, no, no.
You know that can be done bymany people, but to make
everybody responsible for thedime they send is very important
, because they need to feel thatevery girl has a right.
Every girl needs to sit thereon the table, because only then
(41:02):
decisions will be made alongside, with empathy and love and not
egoistic.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
I love that.
I love that.
I am so happy about that.
When you said that, I thinkabout my granddaughter.
We call her Ellie.
She's four years old man.
I can't wait to get her intoSpace Mom.
I got a newgreat-great-grandchild that
Space Mom already.
Space Kids is something you canparticipate in.
You don't just have to watch itfrom afar.
(41:37):
I love what you just said.
I definitely want to inviteyour entire network to continue
to tune in to all the episodesof Follow the Brand, because
we're bringing this type ofcontent to the table that is so
full and rich and exciting andpositive for all of us to
educate ourselves, to getknowledge and applied knowledge,
(41:57):
which is so important.
So I encourage our entireaudience to visit us at 5 Star
BDM that is, b for brand, d fordevelopment infomancerscom.
This has been wonderful.
I want to thank you again somuch for being on the show.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Thank you, Grant.
And one last thing I want tosay.
It's Space Kids India, with a Z, not an S.
Speaker 1 (42:19):
All right, that's a big difference so we can get to
that website.
That is so cool.
Unforgettable moments on theFollow Brand Podcast with the
doctor.
I thank you so much again forbeing with us, but I'm going to
call you Space Mom, that's myname for you.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Thank you, thank you and namaste again from India.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com