A proud moment for me as an Indian
Faisal Khankashi
The Indian journey to the moon, culminating in a resounding success, reads nothing less than a fairy tale. It is the result of relentless hard work and dedication by the scientists of this great nation. The entire nation is ecstatic following India’s triumph in its lunar mission. As a Kashmiri and an Indian, I take immense pride in the accomplishments of our nation and salute the determination and diligence of our country’s scientists.
It is a matter of immense joy that the Lander Module (LM) of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, launched on July 14, successfully landed on the Moon’s surface on August 23. This achievement makes India only the fourth country, following the erstwhile USSR, the U.S., and China, to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface.
Unwavering commitment of our leadership
This success is a testament to the unwavering commitment demonstrated by our leadership since independence, as well as the dynamic efforts put forth by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that India becomes the first nation to reach the South Pole axis of the Moon and attain global superpower status.
The remarks of the esteemed Prime Minister Narendra Modi perfectly encapsulate the sentiments of the entire nation. Addressing ISRO, PM Modi congratulated the scientists and said, “No country has reached the South Pole of the Moon before. With the hard work of our scientists, we have reached there. India’s successful Moon mission is not India’s alone… This success belongs to all of humanity.”
PM Narendra Modi also proclaimed that the successful lunar landing marks the dawn of a new India. “When we witness such historic moments, it fills us with immense pride. This is the dawn of a new India,” PM Modi remarked.
Global superpower
Every corner of India, following the successful mission, brims with confidence that Bharat, the nation, is well on its way to becoming a global superpower.
The nation of Bharat is justly celebrating its heroes. A heartwarming recent video showed ISRO Chairman S Somanath being warmly welcomed on an Indigo flight, winning the hearts of people. The video captures Indigo cabin crew member Pooja Shah announcing their elation at having S Somanath on board. The entire country salutes the genius behind India’s ambitious lunar mission, S Somanath, along with P Veeramuthuvel as the project director for India’s latest lunar touchdown and Kalpana K as the deputy project director.
The successful lunar journey has breathed new life into India’s dreams of conquering space. As a matter of great pride, India launched its first spacecraft dedicated to studying the sun, adding to a month of historic achievements in the country’s civil space endeavors.
The spacecraft, named Aditya-L1, took off from Sriharikota, an island off the Bay of Bengal, at 11:50 a.m. local time on a Saturday (2:20 a.m. ET). It is now en route to an orbit approximately 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth.
Let us excel in the world of science
The successful launch of Aditya-L1 occurred less than two weeks after the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) made history by landing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the lunar surface. This accomplishment established India as the fourth nation in the world and the second in the 21st century to safely land a vehicle on the moon.
As a youth from Jammu and Kashmir, I urge my fellow citizens, especially the youth, to dedicate themselves to education and excel in the scientific world with determination. By doing so, we can contribute significantly to our nation’s progress and help India become a global leader.
The nature of the success achieved by India’s lunar mission underscores that as a nation, we can accomplish anything, and there are no limits to what we can achieve.
(The writer is a prominent tourism stakeholder in Jammu and Kashmir, India)
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