The Lunar Journey
The above-mentioned quote fits perfectly when it comes to tracing the journey that was the headlines of all news channels recently. It is easy to criticize or to be proud of an achievement, but what really makes any achievement worth celebrating is the emotional value added. This successful mission not only improved India's socio-political position globally but also turned out as a full-filled journey for our loved and respected APJ Abdul Kalam. It would be treacherous to not credit Kalam for this success; it would not have been easy carrying the first missile on the cycle. ISRO shared an image of the previous description when Chandrayaan-3 landed successfully and added a cherry on top of the cake. Pioneering stories are difficult, or in Frost's words- the road not taken is often full of challenges. When we hear success stories, we tend to ignore the capital investment behind the milestone and rather call the person lucky, or label it as their luck. To illustrate, behind Chandrayaan-3, as a success, nothing could undermine the hourly investment of the scientist, but the sacrifices of the families must be acknowledged
The world witnessed the capability of India in the field of space and research. A trending video was the talk of the town when a British news channel questioned the successful nation regarding a past borrowed fund. This is a real-life example, of how people pull the legs of successful personnel. We are no different. Observing around us, you can realize how whenever someone achieves success we try to count the reasons or privileges they have, instead of acknowledging the hard work.
Benedict Anderson, in his famous work, Imagined Communities (1983) introduced the nation as an imaginary concept. In other words, a nation is beyond physical boundaries, but defined by moments like these. For instance, throughout the year no one was even aware of the team Chandrayaan-3, but upon its success- it was overwhelming how people, you and I, wanted to trace our relations there. People across the globe were ready with their reasons and relations, adding more subjectivity to the journey. Several such journeys are initiated with the hope of fulfilling dreams. That is why dreams are important; they push an individual out of their comfort zone.
It has already been around two weeks since the milestone, but I will always think of the picture that ISRO shared- a person walking with a cycle and another holding a missile on its carrier. It might be another throwback picture in general, but it does highlight how India focused on its available facilities, not on the lack of resources; making India a renowned nation. India sets up an example of Frost’s …miles to walk before I sleep, by launching another missile to the Sun now. More like establishing the concept of "never stop dreaming". Each day and every step counts is among the several lessons we can take from historic moments like these.
Plato in his outstanding text, On the Sublime, mentioned ways of subliming any work. One of the five ways was emotional involvement. I believe this idea does not restrict itself to poetry, rather it appears universal. After all, humans must feel human and keep a check on their emotional quotient. The objective of mentioning Plato here is to highlight the addition of emotional labels to this journey. Coincidentally, Raksha Bandhan was around the corner and social media witnessed another viral image; narrating the perspective of how a sister finally met her brother to celebrate the festival of bonds. Life might be long, but transient not to be happy and proud of excellent milestones like these.
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