“The human race
has no future unless we spread into space.”
-Stephen Hawking.
Space – The final
frontier! Once thought unreachable. Technology, however, has grown by leaps and
bounds and the dreams once considered impossible are within reach today.
Women have always
been considered the weaker gender, physically and mentally. They have been
confined to their homes and discriminated against.
Some women,
however, have breached the gender stereotypes and succeeded in Science, Technology,
Mathematics and Medicine. Even though they have had to work extra hard, they made
a huge difference to this world! Today, thanks to them, I have excellent
role-models to look up to!
Recently, women
have entered the harshest environment- Space. Valentina Tereshkova from USSR
was the first woman to go into space. She was selected
from amongst 400 applicants – all men! She launched on Vostok-6
in June 1963 and spent almost three days there, blazing a trail for many women to
follow. Svetlana Savitskaya was the 2nd woman to exit earth in 1982.
Peggy Whitson was the first woman to command the International Space Station in
2008. At 666 days, she holds the record
for most time logged in orbit. Anousheh Ansari became the first
female space tourist to the International Space Station in 2006. In 2007, Sunita
Williams became the first to run a marathon in space.
Kalpana Chawla was the
first Indian-born woman to journey into space on Shuttle Columbia in 1997. She
comes from Haryana, where female infanticide is the highest. This itself speaks
volumes about her grit and determination. "You are just your intelligence”
she said. In 2003, Chawla died during her re-entry into Earth. It was tragic
indeed but she inspired millions of girls around the world, like me!
Despite the tremendous progress women have made in
India, it’s still perceived as a male-dominated society. We all know about Dr
Homi Bhabha and his role in India’s journey into modern science, but how many
of us know about pioneering women scientists like Janaki Ammal or Anandibai
Joshi?
This is why the Kalpana Chawlas of the world are so
significant. We need inspiration and a story so powerful, so impactful, that it
touches the lives of women and girls who are told that they don’t have the ‘aptitude’.
People say that humans have conquered space- I
disagree. What we have conquered is our own mental and technological limitations.
Tremendous opportunities and challenges lie ahead in this exigent journey but I'm
looking forward to contributing towards it. Girls being empowered and told that
no dream is too audacious and no task is impossible if they put their minds to
it, is a dream of mine.
Sky cannot be the limit when there are footprints on
the moon!
