The above lines seem to have originated from a very nice book, perhaps from a fairytale. What if I say that these are the words of a father who stood by his daughters dreams. Against all odds of patriarchal society in which educating girls was a far off thought.
She was never the best student in her class but what she did and what she wanted to learn was with an utmost compassion to reach her stars. These are the words of her father.
She would go onto earn her PhD in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder and began working at the NASA Ames Research Centre studying computational fluid dynamics.
Despite working in NASA, she always had her final goal in sight, which was to become an astronaut. She applied for the NASA Astronaut Corps in the early 1990s and joined them in 1995 after undergoing a brutal programme.
In 1996, she was selected for her first flight, and her first space mission began on 19 November 1997, as part of a six-member crew that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. The rest, as they say, is history.
“The world is a beautiful place, but we must strive to make it better. In particular, we must do whatever we can ensure young girls get an education, particularly those whose circumstances make it difficult for them to study. If given a chance, these young girls will shine and share their wealth of knowledge with the world. This is the message I want to relay to the world. This is what Kalpana would have also wanted,” says her father.
The world remembers her as one of the best astronauts because she was the one who despite the technical glitch made that mission successful, but went to her stars which still glitter about the heavens. KALPANA CHAWLA….a daughter, a philosopher, a mentor and a part of the inspiration enlightening a relation between a daughter and her father.
In this world even though minds and thinking has broadened, so has the burden of ones parents unfufilled dreams. How do we relate a 8 year old girl participating in a dance competition saying ” my mom wanted to be a dancer but due to circumstanitial reasons she couldn’t do it, so she is living her dream with me”. Give it a thought.
GIVE HER WINGS IF SHE WANTS TO FLY, GIVE HER FINNS IF SHE WANTS TO SWIM.
GIVE HER THE REINS WITH WHICH SHE WANTS TO RIDE, AND GIVE HER THAT SWORD WITH WHICH SHE YEARNS TO RULE.
Let us pray for the brave soul who has been a light house of hope for many underprivileged girls all around the world, economically, socially, aesthetically and above all SELFLESSLY.
RIP KALPANA CHAWLA.
# DREAMS# WINGS# KALPANA # PRIDE # PROUD # FATHER # AND A DAUGHTER
Daughter means a world to father 