This article covers a detailed story about ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan. It Covers more details about Nambi Narayanan, Wikipedia, Biography, Early Life, Age, Career, Caste, Affairs, Marital Status, Father, Mother, Family, ISRO, child, Wife, Sister, birthday, spy, arrest, Autobiography, book, Son, Daughter, Net Worth, Property, contact number, marriage, wife name, phone number, Wiki, details, About, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Height, Weight, Income, Salary, Facts, Occupation, Profession, Education Qualification, Achievements, Awards, Photos, Videos, Gossips, News, Career, and More.
Early Life:
Nambi Narayanan was born on 12 December 1941 in Nagercoil village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. His full name was S. Nambi Narayanan and he was born in a very middle-class family. Narayanan’s father died only after a few years of birth, which brought home responsibilities to him at a very young age. Narayanan completed his early education at Nagercoil, and after that he completed his high school at DVD Higher Secondary School.
He has also been a classmate of YS Rajan, another scientist from ISRO during his early education. Since childhood, he has been a brilliant student in study and he used to get all kinds of scholarships to study. After this, he earned his B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madras. He was so brilliant in his studies that he used to pay his college fees through a scholarship and work in other firms. In an interview, he said that
“I was an 18-year-old boy with a sick mother and two sisters to get married. There began a difficult life. I worked in different firms. When other students took money from home, I sent some money home. I always had a stressful life, one that was thrust upon me when my father died. I continued with it till this thing landed on me”.
After completing his studies, he worked in a sugar factory for a while. He met ISRO Chairman Vikram Sarabhai for the first time in the year 1966 at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram. At that time Vikram Sarabhai was the chairman of the Space Science and Technology Center, which selected and recruited only highly qualified professionals for ISRO. When Sarabhai first met Nambi Narayanan at the Thumba rocket launching station, he was very impressed with him and had selected Nambi for ISRO.
Narayanan then worked with another scientist YS Rajan as a payload integrator. After this, he enrolled in an engineering college in Thiruvananthapuram to complete his M.Tech. When Sarabhai came to know about this, he offered Narayanan a leave for his higher education. He also received a fellowship from NASA in 1969 and later completed a Master’s degree in Chemical Rocket Propulsion from Princeton University, New Jersey in a record 10 months under the leadership of Professor Luigi Crocco.
Narayanan was then offered US citizenship and a good job at NASA despite his return to India specializing in liquid propulsion at a time when the Indian rocket was still completely dependent on solid propellants. In the early 1970s, when APJ Abdul Kalam’s team was working on solid motors, Narayan introduced liquid fuel rocket technology in India. They had long anticipated the need for liquid-fueled engines for ISRO’s future space programs. Then chairman of ISRO, Satish Dhawan, and his successor, UR Rao, encouraged him to work on liquid fuel engines and gave him the freedom to work.
Completely devoted to his work, Narayanan developed liquid propellant motors. He built a 600-kilogram (1,300 lbs) successful engine in the mid-1970s, after which he was involved in building bigger engines. India was moving very fast in the direction of cryogenic engines. In 1992, ISRO signed an agreement with Russia for the transfer of technology to develop engines based on cryogenic fuels. The agreement was for the purchase of two cryogenic fuel engines worth ₹235 crores. Russia, a friend of India at that time, agreed to transfer the technology to India by signing the deal.
But at the same time, other countries like America and France did not want India to move in the direction of the cryogenic engine. Then US President George W Bush wrote a letter to Russia, raised objections against the transfer of technology to India, and also threatened to blacklist Russia from select 5 club countries. After this, Russia under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin came under pressure from the US and refused to give technology to India.
In order to circumvent this monopoly, India signed a new agreement with Russia for the fabrication of four cryogenic engines. Russia, being India’s best friend, signed this second agreement after giving its consent. The deal was worth a total of $9 million which was received by Kerala Hitech Industries Ltd. the cheapest tender for fabricating engines. However, due to the espionage case of 1994, ISRO had failed to implement this agreement.
Nambi Narayanan Bio/Wiki:
Nambi Narayanan is a famous Indian space engineer who was instrumental in developing the Vikas engine. This engine was used for the launch of the first PSLV in India. He was in charge and a senior officer of the Cryogenic department at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Narayanan and his team spent nearly 2 decades with French assistance in developing the Vikas engines used in many more launching vehicles of ISRO, including the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Which took Chandrayaan-1 to the moon in 2008.
The Vikas engine is used to boost the second stage of PSLV and to run the second phase of GSLV Mark 1 and Mark 2 and the main stage of GSLV Mark 3. In 1994, Narayanan was arrested on false charges of espionage, and his illustrious career was ruined. Later in the year 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismissed all allegations leveled against them as false. Later, in 1998, the Supreme Court of India dismissed all the allegations against him as false and also acquitted him of the case. Let us further know what espionage charges were levied on Narayanan and try to understand his case in detail.
Nambi Narayanan: The Fake Spy Scandal:
In October 1994, Kerala Police arrested Maldivian woman Mariam Rasheeda on charges of overstaying her visa. Weeks later, they picked up her friend, Fauziyya Hassan, a bank worker visiting from Male, the capital of the Maldives on an espionage case. In the interrogation conducted by the police after the arrest, Mariam had said that ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan was involved in spying with her.
After the month of Rasheeda’s arrest police then arrested Nambi Narayanan and another scientist from his own department, D Sasikumaran, without conducting an investigation and were accused of selling the designs and drawings of engine models to Pakistan for lakhs of rupees. At the same time, he was also accused that he is sharing the technology of cryogenic engines with Pakistan.
Although his house was a very simple one and he looked like an ordinary man, he did not show any signs of being corrupt but in spite of this, he was charged with treason. Narayanan was imprisoned for 50 days after his arrest where he was tortured and harassed by the police. Narayanan had claimed that due to political pressure, the Intelligence Bureau officials who were questioning him wanted to make false accusations against top ISRO officials.
During Interrogation, an officer tells Nambi Narayanan that “You sold drawings of India’s Vikas engine and cryogenic engine to Pakistan,”.
Narayanan Replies- “You clearly don’t understand rocket science. There are no classified drawings and no drawing has gone out of ISRO. Even if some get the drawings, they can’t make such an engine without active collaboration with us for several years. If you don’t know, India doesn’t have a cryogenic engine; we are still struggling to make one.”
Nambi also said that two officers of the Intelligence Bureau asked A.E. Muthunayagam, who was Nambi’s boss and director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center, was asked to name him on false charges. For this, he was tortured until he fell to the ground and after that, he was not even admitted to the hospital. He later stated that his main complaint against ISRO was that no member of ISRO supported him. Then, the president of ISRO Krishna Swamy Kasturirangan, said that ISRO cannot interfere in a legal matter.
In May 1996, the CBI found Narayanan innocent in his investigation and dismissed all charges against him. In April 1998, the Supreme Court dismissed all the charges against him. In September 1999, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) passed an order against the Government of Kerala for harming Narayanan’s distinguished career in space research, along with strict physical and mental torture. This order was subject to the torture of Nambi and his family.
After the charges against Nambi were dismissed, he and another scientist Sasikumaran were shifted out of Thiruvananthapuram and were also given a desk job. In 2001, the NHRC ordered the Kerala government to pay a compensation of ₹1 crore, after which Narayanan retired the same year. In September 2012, based on an appeal by NHRC India, the Kerala High Court ordered to Kerala Government to pay a compensation of ₹10 Lakh to Nambi Narayanan.
Fight for Justice:
Despite such a difficult situation, Nambi Narayanan, with the help of her family, on 7 November 2013, sought justice in court against those who had conspired to be falsely implicated in this false case. He said that this case would discourage the youth, so please investigate this case closely and expose the people behind it.
When the matter finally reached the Supreme Court, on 14 September 2018, the court appointed a three-member panel headed by its former judge. The panel was formed to probe the rigorous arrest and alleged torture of former space scientist Nambi Narayanan in the ISRO espionage scandal which later turned out to be fake.
After this, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DK Jain also asked the Kerala government to pay a compensation of ₹50 lakhs to the Narayanan for this battle fought for his mental cruelty and his honor for years. Sri Narayanan had fought a legal battle for many years in various legal forums for his honor and justice, for which the Kerala government decided to give him ₹1.3 crores as compensation.
Honored by the Government of India:
On 26 January 2019, Nambi Narayanan was honored with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third most prestigious award, by the President of India.
| Real Name | S. Nambi Narayanan |
| Nick Name | Rocket Man, Nambi |
| Profession | Scientist |
| Field | Worked on Cryogenic Technology |
| Popular for | Introducing liquid fuel rocket technology in India |
| Language Known | Kannada, Hindi, English |
| Date of Birth | 12 December 1941 (Friday) |
| Age (as of 2024) | 82 years |
| Birthplace | Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Karnataka |
| Hometown | Tirukurungudi, Tirunelveli, Karnataka |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Caste | Tamil Brahman |
| Zodiac Sign/Star Sign | Sagittarius ♐ |
Body Measurements & Physical Stats:
Nambi Narayanan’s age is 82 years in 2024 and his height is 5 feet 6 inches, which is 168 cm. His body weight is 65 kg. His eye color is brownish and his hair color is white.
| Age (as of 2024) | 82 years |
| Height | in centimeter: 168 cm in meter: 1.68 m in feet: 5’6″ inch |
| Weight in Kilogram | 65 kg |
| Weight in Pounds | 143 lbs |
| Body Measurements | 38-30-14 |
| Eye Colour | Brownish |
| Hair Colour | White |
Nambi Narayanan Family Members & Their Relationship:
Narayanan was born into a middle-class Tamil Brahmin Hindu family. He believes in Hindu beliefs as well as worships Hindu deities. Nambi Narayanan’s father’s name is not known. He was a businessman, trading in coconut kernel and fiber, and his mother’s name is also not known who was a housewife. Nambi Narayanan’s father died in his childhood, putting the entire burden of the family on his shoulders. Apart from his mother, he also had five sisters in Nambi’s house, who have been married.
Narayanan’s marital status is married and his wife’s name is Meena Nambi. Nambi Narayanan also has two children, his son Sankara Kumar Narayanan who is a businessman by profession and his daughter, Geetha Arunam who is a teacher at Montessori School in Bengaluru. His family supported him when he was implicated in false allegations by the police in the espionage case. After suffering torture from the police, he broke down inside, due to which he also tried to commit suicide but the family explained to him and motivated him to fight for justice.
| Parents | Father: Not Known Mother: Not Known |
| Siblings | Brother: Not Known Sister: 5 Sisters |
| Children | Daughter: Geetha Arunam (teacher at Montessori School, Bengaluru) Son: Sankara Kumar Narayanan (Businessman) |
| Wife | Wife: Meena Nambi |
| Marital Status | Married |
Educational Qualification:
Nambi Nambi Narayanan lives in Nagercoil village in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and it was from here that he completed his early childhood education. He then received his tenth and twelfth education from DVD Higher Secondary School and topped his school. After completing his intermediate education, Narayanan took admission to Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madras from where he earned his B Tech in Mechanical Engineering. He paid his engineering college fees through a scholarship.
After completing his engineering studies, he also worked in the sugar industry for a few years. He then met ISRO chairman Vikram Sarabhai. Influenced by Narayanan, ISRO chairman Sarabhai recruited him to ISRO where he was working on a payload integrator with another scientist. After some time Narayanan took admission to a college in Thiruvananthapuram to get his M.Tech degree.
He then received a fellowship from NASA in the year 1969, later he received a master’s degree in Chemical Rocket Propulsion from Princeton University, New Jersey. After completing his Master’s studies, he came back to India where he worked on Cryogenic engines and also built the Vikas engine.
| Doctorate Qualification | Master’s Degree in Chemical Rocket Propulsion |
| College | Princeton University, New Jersy |
| Post Graduation Qualification | M.Tech |
| College Name | Madras University |
| Educational Qualification | B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering |
| College Name | Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madras |
| High School | DVD Higher Secondary School |
Nambi Narayanan Net Worth, Income & Salary:
Nambi Narayanan’s total Net Worth is Not Known. He was a government employee at that time, so he got only a normal salary.
| Salary | Normal as a government employee |
| Total Net Worth | Not Known |
Social Media Accounts & Other Contact Details:
| @nambi.narayanan.3975 (37k+ followers) | |
| @NambiNOfficial (9.8k+ followers) | |
| Wikipedia | Nambi_Narayanan |
| Mobile/Phone Number | Not known |
| Not Known |
Nambi Narayanan Biographical Film:
In October 2018, film actor R Madhavan announced the making of a biographical film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect on Sri Narayanan which has been written and directed by R Madhavan. The trailer of this film was released on YouTube on 1 April 2021, which received a lot of support and the trailer is being well-liked by the audience. The trailer of this film has so far been praised by many big stars like Mahesh Babu and Suriya.
This biographical film made by Narayanan Ji will make you emotional. This film shows all the events that happened to him, which you must also see once. The character of Narayanan Ji was played in the film by the talented actor R Madhavan and his opposite, Simran Bagga will also be seen in the lead role. The film was scheduled to be released on 1 July 2022.
Some Interesting Facts About Nambi Narayanan:
- NambiNambi Narayanan was born on 12 December 1941 in Nagercoil village in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu.
- His full name was S. Nambi Narayanan.
- He was born into a very middle-class family. He has also been a classmate of YS Rajan, another scientist from ISRO during his early education.
- Narayanan did his B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madras.
- Nambi first met ISRO Chairman Sarabhai at the Thumba rocket launching station.
- Sarabhai was very impressed by Narayanan, so he recruited him at ISRO.
- Narayanan then worked with another scientist YS Rajan as a payload integrator.
- He also received a fellowship from NASA in 1969.
- Later he completed a Master’s degree in Chemical Rocket Propulsion from Princeton University, New Jersey.
- Narayanan introduced liquid fuel rocket technology in India.
- In 1994, Narayanan was arrested on false charges of espionage, and his illustrious career was ruined.
- Narayanan was imprisoned for 50 days after his arrest where he was tortured and harassed by the police.
- Later in the year 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismissed all allegations leveled against them as false.
- In 1998, the Supreme Court of India dismissed all the allegations against him as false and also acquitted him of the case.
- In 2001, the NHRC ordered the Kerala government to pay a compensation of ₹1 crore to Nambi.
- In September 2012, based on an appeal by NHRC India, the Kerala High Court ordered to Kerala Government to pay a compensation of ₹10 Lakh to Nambi Narayanan.
- On 7 November 2013, seeking justice in court against those who had conspired to be falsely implicated in this false case.
- After this, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DK Jain also asked the Kerala government to pay a compensation of ₹50 lakhs to the Narayanan for this battle fought for his mental cruelty and his honor for years.
- Sri Narayanan had fought a legal battle for many years in various legal forums for his honor and justice, for which the Kerala government decided to give him ₹1.3 crores as compensation.
- In October 2018, film actor R Madhavan announced the making of a biographical film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect on Sri Narayanan.
- At the event of the trailer launching of his biographical film Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Narayanan and R Madhavan meet Prime Minister Modi and they share some video clips with PM Narendra Modi. After that PM Modi got emotional and tweeted
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I want address of Mr. Nahi Narayanan to send a thank you and sorry letter.
I don’t want to socially send it. Plz it’s a humble request.
Nambi sir can speak Tamil .Malayalam also
Atleast get the mail id or contact of Nambi Narayanan sir,
I want to say sry to him and to support him. Thankyou very much nambi sir for making india proud.
It’s nambi effect.
Jaihind.
No need to put god images inour homes
Need to put nambi narayanan sir poto and kalam poto
Please need sir contact no