The DRDO operated a network of fifty-two laboratories across India. Each of these was responsible for developing defence technologies in domains as diverse as aeronautics, communication, armaments and life sciences. The DRDO employed 5,000 scientists and 25,000 support personnel. Pam was a shining star in a sky full of soaring minds clouded only by bureaucracy. Like every other government department, the DRDO too was controlled by an army of civil servants. Pam often joked that DRDO bureaucrats were like defective guns: they never worked and could not be fired.
