‘THE’ MOMENT

 

 

 

SCIENCE, possibly, had never had such a unifying effect on a nation -- as was seen in our country the moment Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module Vikram touched down on the lunar surface near the South Pole on the Moon’s farside. The whole Indian nation of 1.4 billion people was as if one person -- basking in the glory of national pride brought in by an unprecedented scientific achievement, trying its best to treasure the moment for permanence in individual and collective memory. The response of the Indian people across states and statuses was unique in every sense -- no other nation in the world in living memory had responded so unitedly to a scientific and technological achievement. The silk-smooth, cotton-soft precision landing ‘Vikram’ achieved was a scientific, technological, visual marvel whose parallel may not be found easily elsewhere. It was sheer poetry -- carved permanently but delicately on human memory. The whole of India -- and of course also the world -- was waiting for that moment that looked so tremendously divine particularly against the experience of the 2019 crash-landing of the lander of Chandrayaan-2. The greatness of the Indian nation -- its Government, its people, its scientific community -- lay, however, in its ability to endure that sense of shock, and start preparing for another similar mission with greater focus on detail.

 

The Moon Mission team of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) proved its worth by carving out a campaign to Moon whose failure many had assuredly anticipated -- for obvious reasons of the terribly high degree of difficulty involved in tackling the challenge of the Moon’s dark farside. The crash of Russia’s Luna-25 just a few days earlier had only strengthened those doubts. Despite all that, the ISRO made every challenge look like child’s play. The Mission team proved the merit of not just its scientific brain but also its spiritual strength by demonstrating an unwavering, single-minded resoluteness that may not have a parallel in contemporary history of science. Such a scientific endeavour, tempered by prayers in every Indian heart, was bound to succeed -- which it really did -- paving the way for further such ventures into space. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi was prompt in verbalising the national aspiration in clear words when he highlighted the importance of ‘the’ moment. He did define the next aims India will work for, which includes delving deeper into the limitless space to study the vast Solar System. Every Indian head and heart agreed with the Prime Minister’s assertion!

 

This is the sense of unity the Chandrayaan-3’s success has generated, giving science an altogether different dimension in modern times. True, science should be utilised to heighten the quality of human achievement. But this one particular scientific achievement carried with it the unquestioning sentiment of the Indian nation. The prayers that took place everywhere in the country earlier and the celebrations that broke loose later indicated how science has a unifying ability that goes beyond ideological divides and petty political differences. India has achieved a long-standing dream of going to Moon. And without doubt, it will keep scaling newer heights in space in the future. At this moment, we recall the vision and action of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and thousands of scientists and dreamers who gave India a high position in the global community. We pay our deepest and highest respects to all of them. We also salute the current generations of India’s scientific community for giving the nation a tremendous reason to have unshakable faith in the idea of India. Finally, we join the nation to wait eagerly for further achievements of the ‘Pragyan’ Rover.