Over the moon

I remember that as a kid, I read about Armstrong’s “One small step for man…” little speech on the surface of the moon with awe and a tinge of envy. If truth be told, years later I maliciously enjoyed watching a program alleging that the whole episode was an elaborately planned charade by NASA and the US government working hand in glove with each other.

Whatever the truth, I eagerly waited for the day when India would send its own space shuttle to the moon. Now “Chandrayaan” has taken a baby step towards the moon. As an Indian I am immensely proud. Three cheers for the ISRO guys :-) You are the best!

For a country where the children grow up calling the moon “Chandamama”, where ladies without a brother look out for it on the occassion of the “Bhaiyadooj”, where the day of the Eid is fixed when it is sighted, where married ladies look at it on “Karwa Chauth” and where many love songs have been penned on it, the planet has always been closer to the heart than any other celestial bodies.

The epic Ramayana describes how King Rama, as a child, insisted that he won’t go to bed till he was given the moon. His father’s advisor Sumant gave him a tiny mirror such that the moon’s reflection could be seen in it and King Rama went happily to bed.

Now ISRO has brought the moon closer for over a billion Indians. We never ask for the moon but this time we got it. And we are over the moon – literally and figuratively! :-)