A Farewell from the Stars: Shubhanshu Says India Still the Best

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to visit the International Space Station and pilot the Axiom-4 mission, thanked the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for giving him the opportunity to go on the incredible journey. During the farewell ceremony of the mission, he credited the people involved in the mission for making it amazing and memorable. Shukla said that they had looked back at Earth during whatever time they could find. “To me, it seems magical,” he said.

Reminding that 41 years back, Rakesh Sharma (an Indian) went to the space and told Indians how the country looked like from up there and now, they want to know how it is looking today.

“Aaj ka bharat space se mahatvakanshi dikhta hai, aaj ka bharat nidar dikhta hai, aaj ka bharat confident dikhta hai, aaj ka bharat garv se poorn dikhta hai, aaj ka bharat abhi bhi sare jahan se acha dikhta hai, jald hi dharti par mulaqat karte hai (Today’s India looks ambitious from space, today’s India looks fearless, today’s India looks confident, today’s India appears full of pride, today’s India still looks better than the entire world. See you soon),” he said.

In the speech, he spoke in Hindi to his countrymen and said that while his journey in the space is nearing an end, India’s human space mission is still very long and difficult. “Aapki or meri yatra abhi bhot lambi hai (Our journey is still very long),” he said.

However, he assured his countrymen that if all of us make a firm resolve, even the stars are attainable.

Shukla expressed gratitude to researchers and students in India who developed the outreach items that he carried.

He also thanked NASA and its international partners Axiom Space, SpaceX for the training and support they provided. He said he was taking back with him a lot of memories and learnings from the mission. The one thing that is striking in the journey is that humanity is capable of doing truly incredible things, when all of us come together and work for a common goal.