We did it:) The first nation in the world to land at the South Pole of the moon!
यशोधिगन्तुं सुखलिप्सया वा मनुष्यसंख्यामतिवर्तितुं वा |
निरुत्सकानामभियोगभाजां समुत्सुके वाङ्कमुपैति सिद्धिः ||
yashodhigantum sukhalipsayā vā manuśyasamkhyāmativartitum vā nirutsakānāmabhiyogabhājām samutsuke vānkmupaiti siddhih
Kavya Prakasha
Success itself is keen to fall in the lap of and embrace a person who is not very keen to be famous, or who is not desirous of attaining pleasure or happiness, or who wants to be the very best (in any field) but the one who performs his duties diligently and selflessly without any undue anxiety about the results of his/her action.
This śloka is from the The Kāvyaprakāśa, a Sanskrit scripture written by Mammaṭa in the 11th century. This work is also termed kāvya-śāstra (‘science of poetry’). According to tradition, part of the text was said to originally have been composed by Bharata, the legendary author of the Nāṭyaśāstra.
Four years back, we experienced disappointment – but we had not failed. Science is all about experimentation, and experiments may not yield desired results. We did go back to the drawing board and work hard, selflessly, diligently.
Every scientist at ISRO is worth his or her weight in gold – literally. There are many countries out there who would pay an arm and a leg to get hold of them – but they stayed on – at lower salaries and a lower standard of living than they could have afforded – all because of love for the nation and for what they do.
They stand vindicated today.
Jai hind! Proud to be Indian!
This is what I wrote four years back, when Chandrayaan 2 failed to achieve some of its objectives.
Winning is not everything, it is how one conducts oneself in defeat that matters.
The biggest scientists, the leader of over 1 billion people – are humans after all. And sometimes, it is more important to feel human, than to keep it all inside and cry.
A leader is one who stands by his people – regardless of the outcome.
And also, we do believe –
उद्योगिनं पुरुष-सिंहम् उपैति लक्ष्मीर् दैवेन देयम् इति कापुरुषा वदन्ति ।
दैवं निहत्य कुरु पौरुषम् आत्म-शक्त्या यत्ने कृते यदि न सिध्यति को ऽत्र दोषः ॥
udyoginaṃ puruṣa-siṃham upaiti lakṣmīr daivena deyam iti kāpuruṣā vadanti |
daivaṃ nihatya kuru pauruṣam ātma-śaktyā yatne kṛte yadi na sidhyati ko ‘tra doṣaḥ
Prosperity always favours men who are brave, and who work diligently. “Whatever happens is due to fate”, so say the lazy and the cowardly. One should leave the reliance on fate, and continue to work sincerely, as per one’s capabilities and talent. Even after working to the best of your ability, if you are unable to achieve success, you are not to be blamed, because you tried well.
This scene embodies this very thought 🙂
Waiting for the day when ISRO will make this a success – and that day is not very far off:)
Jai Hind!