Lost in the midst of all the hoopla over the Economic Meltdown, “Hindu Terrorism”, Obama’s victory, Somali pirates, retirement of Indian Cricketers, Sri Lankan Tamil issue and my dear friend Nilu’s incessant courtship of his fiancee before his wedding on 20th November, is one of India’s greatest achievements in the realm of science – The Moon Mission or Chandrayaan.
I don’t want to go into the delightful statistics surrounding the success of this mission from India; one can find all that here. There was only one question lingering in my mind – WHY?
For a nation with a significant percentage of people living below the poverty line, I was really wondering about the need to spend more than Rs.375 Crore to launch a satellite to the moon. An interesting answer to that question is here.
As a resident of Chennai I fully understand how Electricity starved we are and clearly appreciate the fact that if Chennai were to get steady electricity, we need help from outside the earth. But what about the millions of people in India who are literally starved? There are so many who don’t even have access to potable drinking water? What about the countless farmers committing suicide across the country?
I feel that the funds used for the Moon Mission could have been used to fuel the next Green Revolution. It could have been used to develop indigenous Reverse Osmosis Plants to solve the water problem in many coastal cities. It can be used to build reservoir systems to regulate the availability of water and even generate power from these reservoirs. Or the funds could even be used towards mass production of medicines.
Maybe I don’t fully understand the significance of this scientific achievement. Pretty much like how I don’t really appreciate the Particle Collider experiment too.
Having said all that, I must still acknowledge the folks at ISRO (not that they are waiting for my approval) who have definitely done something that they can be proud of. And as all of them talked about, the day when they send an Indian to the moon is not really very far away.
Talking of the man on the moon, how can I not refresh the memory of my dear readers with this mega மொக்கை:
கே: சாதாரண மனிதனுக்கும் Neil Armstrong-க்கும் என்ன வித்யாசம்?
ப: சாதாரண மனிதன் ஒண்ணுக்கும் ரெண்டுக்கும் தான் போவான், ஆனா Neil Armstrong மூணுக்கே போயிருக்கான்!!!
2 comments:
whole funda of people starving, prices are high can beat the logic even on the spending on armed forces. people starving or eating rats is due to political mismanagement and nothing to do with India's capacity. India can sustain 1 more billion people with its wealth. This is to show case the scientific advancement to the world just like we trying to show off our status or position either in office or outside world.
I cant equate the spend on armed forces with the spend on a moon mission. India is surrounded on all sides by countries who dont like us and wouldnt mind doing anything to disintegrate us. So we have to spend money there. But not so with a moon mission.
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