Chandrayaan 2 and the Vikram the Lander Unites India : What a befitting Centenary tribute to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai the founding father of ISRO

Chandrayaan 2 and the Vikram the Lander Unites India : What a befitting Centenary tribute to Dr. Vikram Sarabhai the founding father of ISRO

Most social scientists subscribe to the thought that the often used phrase ‘Unity in Diversity’ for the success and vibrancy of the Indian Democracy, is exemplified in the three common Cs - Cricket, Cinema and Curry (chilly), which every Indians is commonly connected to and love passionately. From now on new word perhaps will have to be added to this ‘Vikram’. I had used the three Cs connecting thread for Indians, while curating the Cricket Connect exhibition : India - England. When India got baptised as a Test playing nation in 1932 in England, the team that represented India and played the inaugural test against the mighty English team - which had just defeated Australian team that was led by the indomitable Bradman, was a classic case of diversity that exists in India, which was yet united.

The All-India cricket team that was finally selected to travel to England, was a microcosm of the diversity that constitutes India, about whom nothing much was known to the English cricket loving spectators. The team consisting of 18 members landed in England on April 13, 1932. The socio-political significance of the tour and its connect with the phrase ‘Unity in Diversity’ was borne out with unofficial slogan of the team, which read ‘No politics, No Caste, Just Cricket’. To the English public there was never an opportunity to see such a team of contrasts meeting on the common footing of cricket. The 18 players, who represented India, spoke eight to ten different languages among them and belonged to four or five different castes. The team contained six Hindus, five Muslims, four Parsees and two Sikhs. Each of these players had their religious and caste beliefs and following. Some of these players forswear alcohol by religion and most of the others did so by choice. The Sikhs, who played cricket in their traditional turbans, were non smokers in the days when smoking was the in thing. The Hindus did not eat beef, and the Muslims did not eat pork and ham. Such was the vast diversity of the team, which however was united with the three common connecting threads ‘Cricket, Cinema and Chilly (curry)’, which all of them loved. The hosts had noted the special needs of the team and so to prevent any difculties at meal times they had issued orders that religiously banned things must not appear on any menu during the tour and that chilly be used in the food served to the team.

The night of 6th September 2019 was a momentous occasion not just for ISRO but for the entire nation. It was on this day that Chandrayaan 2 with Vikram Lander on board - named after the founder of the Indian Space program Dr Vikram Sarabhai, whose centenary is celebrated this year - was to soft land on the South Pole of the lunar surface, the first for any nation. We at the the Nehru Science Centre has joined the nation in witnessing live telecast of this historic moment at our centre and the Mumbaikars overwhelmingly responded to our invitation and as against our capacity of 270, we had more than 400 audience, including school going students, and some distinguished dignitaries. It was a first for our centre that we had organised an event in the dead of night and true to the spirit of the nation, Mumbaikars turned out in large numbers and stayed put at our centre right until 3 AM on the 7th of September.

Most unfortunately, the last moments for the Chandrayaan 2 mission, before making history, turned out to be unscripted. The telemetry signal that the Vikram Lander was providing went according to the script until about 2.1 kilometres from the surface of the moon and then the classic Murphy’s Law crept in and some thing went wrong and the signal from the Vikram Lander was lost and the nation waited with bated breath hoping against hope for the best, which was not to be. The mission to soft land the lander and row the Pragya rower on the southern pole of the moon may not not have been a success but then the entire nation remained united in standing by the ISRO team and hailing the achievements of ISRO not withstanding the partial failure of soft landing the Vikram Lander.

While the ISRO scientists are burning their midnight oil and have not lost hopes in trying to reestablish contact with the elusive Vikram Lander, which it is now confirmed has landed with an impact more or less in the area originally planned, the entire country - including the mighty media - stands united as one India in hailing the efforts of our ISRO team. Most news papers and digital media are extensively and tirelessly covering this issue and the whole nation is steadfastly united as one on this issue like we are when it comes to the three Cs - Cricket, Cinema and Curry.

The DNA of ISRO and the great heights that it has reached in the field of frontiers of space has been made possible by its founding fathers primary among them include its founding father Dr Vikram Sarabhai, whose centennial we are celebrating this year. What a befitting centenary tribute it will be to Dr Vikram Sarabhai that the Vikram lunar lander - named after him - has united the entire nation. May ISRO continue to live up to the ideals of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, who died at a very young.