Mars Orbiter Mission Project chief Arunan’s wife wants him back on earth

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dr Subbiah Arunan, the project director of the Mars Orbiter Mission who was ‘living a dream’ since the last 15 months, finally found time to hit the sack at his Bengaluru home after sitting up all through the wee hours of Wednesday.

However, his wife, Geetha Arunan, daughter of senior space scientist Nambi Narayanan, is apprehensive about the future course of events. She badly wants her husband to come down to earth and get involved in the affairs of the family which he had been brushing aside for his dream mission.

Geetha said her husband was always too immersed in his work and the last few days had been hectic. “Arunan left for his office on Tuesday at 6 am and came back by 11 pm. He then slept intermittently for one-and-a-half hours and by 2 am (Wednesday) he had already left. There are hundreds of missed calls on his mobile and I wonder how he is going to return them. His way of life has always been hectic”, said Geetha.

But Arunan can indeed be proud of his leadership as banners congratulating him have sprung up at his home town in Valliyur. As a child, he was inspired by his uncle Nambi Narayanan who later became his father-in-law. Geetha quipped that Arunan was extremely fond of Chocolate, his five-year-old Labrador. Otherwise, he unwinds by watching suspense movies and if they are the old flicks of MGR, then it’s all the more engaging.

Arunan who started his space career in 1984 at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre has been a great fan of P.G. Wodehouse and credits his sharp wit to the British humorist. Their house is indeed as busy as a beehive, with the master of the house a busy space scientist, wife a Montessori teacher and their only daughter Shruthi, a second year medical student in Bengaluru.

“We usually don’t switch on the television. But today being a local holiday here due to Amavasi, Shruthi and I were at home. To see the outcome of the Mangalyaan mission, we switched on the television and it was so noisy here. Poor Chocolate was running around wondering what had gone wrong. As of now I can’t really say what lies ahead and when we would be able to come down to Thiruvananthapuram”, added Geetha.