Everybody must have heaved a sigh of relief when NASA’s space shuttle Atlantis carrying seven astronauts, including Sunita Williams, landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, especially after all the hiccups. First there were technical problems and then the inclement weather played the spoil sports.
The landing at 12:49 p.m. Pacific time came after NASA had passed up four chances on Thursday and Friday to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of rain and low clouds in the area. [ Space Shuttle Lands in California Desert ]
All this time when Sunita Williams was trying to come back people in India were performing public prayers and performing yagnas for her safety. All news channels were continuously telecasting people in various cities performing various religious or clutish rites. Again, when the news of the safe landing broke people came on the streets to rejoice. It was as if only Sunita Williams was there in the space shuttle. Most of the newspapers today have headings like Sunita Williams returns after record stay in space and Children pray for Sunita didi, and even as far as Sunita signals a new high for women. The Vishwa Gujarati Samaj has decided to felicitate her.
What about the mission? What about the other six astronaut? It’s as if, the only thing that matters is that Sunita Williams is an Indian, or rather, she is from India (I’m not sure if she is an Indian). Hello! Knock knock. Wake up kiddos. Other than having her origins here, India in no way has contributed to her success. Here we are good at creating hurdles, not opportunities. It’s America that gave her the opportunity, a level playing field, and we, like typical losers, are feeling proud of the fact that she is an Indian. We should be ashamed of the fact that if Indians want to achieve something big, they have to leave the country. Here in India we don’t even get safe drinking water, forget about sending Sunita Williams to space.
In India we are so desperate for idols that we either try to steal them from foreign countries — VS Naipuaul, Laxmi Mittal, Salman Rushdie, Kavita Chawla and various great scientists that left the country so that they could achieve what they wanted to achieve — or we cling to indigenous illusionary idols like Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajin Kanth, etc. We don’t have even a single global brand. When it comes to science and technology we compete with small countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. China bullies us almost every second week. People come from abroad to tell us how we should get rid of poverty, backwardness and diseases. In sports we gallantly lose, and rarely win.
A few days ago I was asking my wife what’s the meaning of majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi (the other name for powerlessness is Mahatma Gandhi). We couldn’t figure out the true meaning but I think it means being proud of defeat when you’re sure to lose.
India should stop taking credit for Sunita William being an Indian and I hope she spurns all those felicitation machinations. If anyone has a reason to feel proud, it should be the American society who created a ripe ground for not only a woman, but a woman from a foreign land.
More links on Sunita Williams:
- Sunita Williams is not Indian
- Sunita Williams — a crime against humanity (this is nice)
- Is India desperate for idols?
Technorati Tags: sunita williams, nasa, atlantis shuttle
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I think media too generate hype around her. Who told us that she will have samosa and jalebi after her return to earth? How do we know, She reads Bhagwad Geeta?
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