PM lauds Chandrayaan-3 heroes
August 23, 2023, was a historic and momentous day for every Indian filled with joy and emotions. I know I cried when India successfully landed on the Moon. Modi himself was watching the “safe and soft” landing of Chandrayan 3’s Vikram’s landing while he was attending the BRICS meeting in South Africa. He was overjoyed but contained his emotions that day.
Today, Modi reached straight to ISRO after his overseas trip to felicitate and salute the ISRO scientists and to celebrate, “India on the Moon.” While addressing the ISRO team, Modi could no longer contain his overjoy without being emotional. Anyone watching his live broadcast could see him ‘choked’ for seconds while he was saluting the ISRO team for their resolve, hard work, dedication, passion, and commitment. Modi did not have enough adjectives to praise the ISRO team for putting India on the Moon where no one else has gone before. India’s Chandrayan-3 reached the South Pole where no one else had gone before including Russia’s failed attempt just days ago.
It is rare that the scientists are celebrated but Modi celebrated and saluted them like never before. Proud and stateman Modi stood in front of the ISRO team and made several momentous and monumental announcements in his historic address.
Modi offered the nation not one but four major strokes.
The first, from now on August 23 will be called National Space Day which will remind every proud Indian and future generations of our successful space missions. Undoubtedly, such well-deserved recognition for the successful landing on the Moon with ISRO’s dedication and hard work will give an immense boost to future space missions.
Modi’s second stroke that will shake the anti-Hindutva political opponents is to name the landing point of the Vikram lander on the surface of the moon as “Shiv Shakti.” As a proud Hindu, I was overjoyed and ecstatic with his choice of such a fitting name. India with Sanatana Dharma in its roots for centuries deserves the Sanatani Renaissance and anyone denying it in New India is perhaps living in nineteenth-century India. Modi explained that Shakti is the manifestation of ‘Women Power,’ a very fitting tribute to ISRO’s women workforce who made critical contributions to the success of the Chandrayan missions.
The third stroke in just 40 minutes speech was an equally fitting tribute to the nation and ISRO scientists. He named the landing point by Chandrayan 2 as “Tiranga.,” India’s tricolor Flag. The readers may remember that during the 75th celebration of India’s Independence, “Har Ghar Tiranga,” was launched. It was extraordinarily successful in instilling the national spirit and uniting India under one flag. This year, Modi felicitated India’s flag on the Moon by naming the landing point Tiranga. Simply put, Tiranga is not only in every Indian’s heart and hoisted at every home, but it will be on the moon forever.
The fourth stroke, perhaps not in every media outlet but in my view, was the slogan of “Jai Vigyan Jai Anusandhan” (Hail Science, Hail Research) which Modi asked the crowd at the airport to repeat after him. It is modelled after Shastri’s Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. When he was asking the non-Hindi-speaking crowd to say Jai Anusandhan, perhaps fewer understood the challenging word. Nevertheless, Modi demonstrated that he was breathing and dreaming about science, research, innovation, and India’s development while on the flight from Greece to Bengaluru.
As a scientist, I never felt so proud of being one. Prime Minister Modi has put every scientist on the gold platter and made them celebrities. As a Hindu nationalist, Modi breathes Bharat, Modi lives to serve Bharat, and Modi dreams of Vikasit (developed) Bharat. In his address at ISRO, he talked about India being part of the’ Third World’ but today ISRO made India a part of the ‘First World.’
“India on the Moon” during the ongoing Amrut Mahotsav toward a ‘Developed India’ by 2047 makes it even more momentous, and magnificent. It reminds me of a ten-year-old girl who once came up to India’s former President A P J Abdul Kalam for an autograph. When asked by Dr. Kalam what was her ambition, she replied, “I want to live in a developed India.” Dr. Kalam dedicated his famous book “Vision 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium” to that girl. Today, Dr. Kalam, a highly acclaimed space scientist, in the Heavens, must be immensely proud of his India, and the 10-year-old girl, in adulthood, will surely have her dream of ‘Developed India” come true.
India’s journey toward development is not just a dream but a reality in the making. This month India is on the Moon, Next month we plan a mission to explore the Sun, the month after India hosts G20, and the journey continues. Modi has already given a guarantee that India will be the third-largest economy in a few short years. There is no stopping for India to be developed and a Hindu Rashtra with people of all faiths and beliefs living in harmony and peace.
Jai Bharat, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan, Jai Kisan, Jai Jawan.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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Formerly, a researcher in Italy, Japan, and France, he has widely travelled and came to the US in 1978. He was a faculty and academic administrator in several different universities in PA, TX, NJ, MN, WI, and NY, and an Executive Fellow in the White House S&T Policy during the Clinton administration.
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