Short Story- KALPANA CHAWLA

KALPANA CHAWLA: FIRST WOMEN ASTRONAUT FROM INDIA, WHO VISITED HER DREAM OUTER- SPACE:

WHENEVER YOU SEE AEROPLANES AND ROCKETS MOVING IN THE SKY, YOU MUST BE GETTING A THOUGHT THAT SOMETIMES YOU ALSO WANTED TO FLY UP IN THE BEAUTIFUL SKY. SAME AS KIDS, THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL BUT WITH BIG DREAMS NAMING- KALPANA (IMAGINATION).

KALPANA CHAWLA WAS FIRST WOMEN ASTRONAUT FROM INDIA, WHO VISITED HER DREAM OUTER- SPACE.

DURING SUMMERS, AN EIGHT YEARS OLD GIRL, WHILE RESTING ON A BAMBOO BED USED TO ALWAYS BEHOLD THE SKY. BY OBSERVING AT THE SHOOTING STARS IN THE SKY, SHE USES TO ALWAYS GET VARIOUS QUESTIONS. SLOWLY THIS QUESTION OF HER GOT CONVERTED INTO THE DREAM TO FLY IN THE SKY AND THEN IT LED TO THE AMAZING PASSION TO BE AN ASTRONAUT. WITH THE HELP OF HER SELF CONFIDENCE, STRONG MINDED NATURE AND HARD WORK SHE FINALLY ACHIEVED HER GOAL OF LIFE AND MADE INDIA PROUD BY BECOMING THE FIRST INDIAN WOMEN TRAVELLING IN THE SPACE.

KALPANA WAS BORN IN THE YEAR 1961 IN THE NORMAL MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY IN HARYANA, INDIA. HER FATHER NAMING BANVARILAL CHAWLA WAS A SMALL LEVEL TRADER AND MOTHER SANYOGITA WAS A HOME MAKER. KALPANA WAS THE YOUNGEST AMONG HER FOUR SISTERS. SHE GOT EDUCATED FROM A PRIVATE SCHOOL BAAL NIKETAN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL WHICH WAS NEARBY TO HER HOUSE. FROM CHILDHOOD SHE USE TO BE ON EQUAL TERMS WITH BOYS. THE GIRL WITH THE MODEST LOOKS WAS HAVING A VERY STRONG RESOLVING PERSONALITY. IN THE EARLY AGE OF 14 YEARS SHE LEARNT TO  DRIVE CAR, SHE WAS VERY MUCH CRAZY FOR THE ' UDAAN CLUB '. SHE USED TO ALWAYS DREAM ABOUT FLYING AEROPLANES. SHE FIRST FLEW IN AEROPLANE WHEN SHE WAS ONLY IN THE 8TH GRADE.

SHE COMPLETED HER HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION AND TOOK ADMISSION IN THE ENGINEERING COLLEGE OF CHANDIGARH AND IN 1982 SHE RECEIVED DEGREE IN AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING. KALPANA WANTED TO GO AMERICA FOR HER FURTHER STUDIES BUT HER PARENTS WERE NOT HAPPY BY THIS DECISION.

WITH LOTS OF COURAGE SHE WENT TO AMERICA AND BY 1984 SHE RECEIVED THE DEGREE OF M.S FROM TEXAS UNIVERSITY. BY THE SAME MOMENT SHE LEARNT FLYING AEROPLANES TOO. SHE GOT MARRIED TO HER AEROPLANE INSTRUCTOR PIERRE HARRISON AND BECAME THE CITIZEN OF AMERICA.

AFTER HER MARRIAGE SHE EARNED THE DOCTORATE PHD DEGREE IN AERONAUTICS. AFTER THAT SHE APPLIED FOR A REQUEST AT AMERICA SPACE AGENCY FOR FLYING COLUMBIA'S SPACE SHUTTLE IN NASA.

AMONG OF 3000 APPLICATIONS, 79 WERE FINALLY SELECTED BY THE AMERICAN SPACE AGENCY, FROM WHICH KALPANA CHAWLA WAS ALSO THE ONE WHO HAD GOT SELECTED. EVEN WHEN SHE HAS PATIENTLY PASSED ALL THE SELECTION PROCESSES, SHE WAS PUT ON A VERY STRONG TRAINING FOR A YEAR AT SPACE CENTER OF HOUSTON.

SHE WAS BRIEFLY  TRAINED ABOUT THE OUTER SPACE AND THE OUTER SPACESHIP LIFE IN DETAIL. SHE WAS ALSO RCEIVING TRAINING IN A LIGHT WEIGHTED ENVIRONMENT, ON HOW TO WALK,SLEEP AND EAT IN THE OUTER SPACE.

 ON 19 NOVEMBER 1997,WAS THE MEMORABLE DAY, WHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME KALPANA CHAWLA TOOK OFF IN A COLUMBIAN SPACECRAFT. SHE WAS FLYING AS A 'SCIENTIFIC SPECIALIST' IN A GROUP OF 6 MEMBERS INCLUDING HERSELF. SHE WAS IN THE OUTER SPACE FOR 15 DAYS- 16 HOURS & 33 MINUTES. HER COMPLETE SCHEDULE WAS ALREADY FIXED FROM THE MOMENT THEY USE TO WAKE UP AND COME OUT OF SLEEPING BAG TILL THE TIME THEY HAD DINNER. KALPANA CHAWLA WAS A VEGETARIAN AND SO FOR HER SPECIAL VEGETARIAN FOOD WAS PACKED. ON 5 DECEMBER 1997, SHE SUCCESSFULLY RETURNED TO THE EARTH WITH HER GROUP MEMBERS BY COMPLETING HER CAMPAIGN. SHE WAS BEAUTIFULLY WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED WHEN SHE GOT BACK ON THE EARTH.

HER SPACE JOURNEY DIDN'T END HERE SHE WAS TOTALLY OVERWHELMED WHEN SHE GOT TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS BEING SELECTED FOR THE SECOND SPACE TOUR.

IN THE YEAR 2000 SHE WAS INCLUDED IN THE MOTOR TEAM  OF STS 107 SPACE CRAFT. THIS CAMPAIGN WAS TOTALLY FOCUSED ON A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. SHE AGAIN GOT A CHANCE TO FLY IN A SPACE WITH THE HELP OF COLUMBIAN SPACE CRAFT ON 16 JANUARY 2003. 15 DAYS THEY ALL WERE FOCUSING IN THEIR RESEARCH. EVERYONE WAS HAPPY TO GET SELECTED FOR THE NEW CAMPAIGN IN THE SPACE. 1 FEBRUARY 2003 WAS THE DATE WHEN THE COLUMBIAN SPACE CRAFT WAS GOING TO LAND ON THE EARTH. BUT THEY WERE NOT AT ALL AWARE OF THE FACT THAT THEY MIGHT NOT RETURN TO THE EARTH BACK ONCE THEY TAKE OFF. AS SOON AS THE SPACE SHUTTLE WAS RETURNING TO EARTHS ATMOSPHERE A PHENOMENON HAPPENED WHICH WAS VERY SHOCKING FOR NASA AS WELL FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. FINALLY THE WORLD LOST ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST STARS FROM THE WORLD. BUT THE JOURNEY OF KALPANA CHAWLA WILL BE ALWAYS INSPIRING US AS A BRIGHT SHINNING STAR.