Ponder Point

This morning Chandrayaan 1 (India’s unmanned moon mission) launched successfully at 6:22 AM. It was a great way to start the day. I was all smiles and beaming all day. It made me feel warm, good and left me inspired and demanding more.

Hats off to all the ISRO scientists who worked to make this happen. “Yeh dil maange more!”

There were many globally who looked at it positively. (Read here, here, here and here)

For many in the world the struggle to come to grips with India’s “misplaced” priorities. On one side there is a nation grappling with moving ahead and providing its citizens with basic infrastructure, food for the impoverished and the hungry. And it sure seems to them like we are playing the “fiddle” when “India” is on fire”!

For others it is a space race. A “me too” mentality that is letting India get dragged into a global space race. An ego booster. There were suggestions of a potential lunar land grab race for its rich minerals. More here.

There are other who think it is a nation desperately trying to reassert itself and emphasize that it is an emerging global power economically and otherwise.

Healthy competition is good. So what if there is a space race fueled by national pride? So what if the Americans, the Russians, the Europeans, the Chinese and the Japanese have been there and done that?

Milestones like these inspire the populace and keeps the spirit alive and positive to tackle the plethora of problems and challenges the nation and its people face daily. They are the rainbow in the daily lives of the average Indian.

The race to the moon inspired a generation of Americans as did did the Petronas Twin towers that inspired a generation of Malaysians beyond anyones imagination.

I am already convinced that this mission has created a flutter and an excited amongst people I meet everyday. Here are some examples of how it inspired young techies:

Thejesh, an avid blogger, watched the launch live and live blogged it. He was wasn’t at the launch center at Sriharikota as you would imagine. He was in front of his Television and on a live a chat with some techie friends of his to revel at the moment dueing the launch.

Another Microblogger decided to do what ISRO should have - Twittered (tweeted for some) the Chandrayaan launch like the NASA Mars rovers had twitter coverage at @Marsphoenix and @MarsRovers. Check out @Chandrayaan1 for the Chandrayaan Tweets.

To me this is a good enough an objective to spend 384 Crores on (or 80 M$). Programs like these can do wonders to the spirit of the people and the youth like nothing else can!

The Sydney Morning Herald made some quips: “The pop group Jamiroquai may have been right when they sang Everybody’s Going To The Moon“!  “The moon makes space for India“, the story headline read.

The BBC’s forums were flooded with comments, and the moderators had a backlog of a 1000 plus comments to screen and moderate.

 

And Obama couldn’t resist taking note and making a policy comment either.

Cant wait for ISRO to announce aggressive and definitive plans for future manned space missions. The final frontier awaits a definitive Indian presense and participation.

Meanwhile the moon awaits the Chandrayaan-1!