One earth, truly majestic India: Shukla's twin messages to PM from space

In his first elaborate remarks from the International Space Station (ISS) where he docked on Thursday in a history-scripting move, Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla of the Indian Air Force hailed the oneness of the earth and the true majesty of India.

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"When we reached the orbit, the first view was that of the earth. The initial impression of the earth was of one big whole, sans borders and boundaries... India is truly majestic, much larger than what we see on the map," Shukla, the first Indian to go to space in 41 years, said in his maiden interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.

The 18-minute conversation — reminiscent of late PM Indira Gandhi's talk with Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to go to space on April 2, 1984 — saw Modi engage Shukla on his routine in space, impressions of the earth, adaptability techniques and message for the youth.

Shukla, 39, spoke of astronauts aboard the Axiom-4 mission watching 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets a day in orbit.

"It is an exceptional sight and we are moving at 28,000 km an hour. India is also moving forward at a very fast pace," said the Lucknow-born astronaut, who spoke to Modi with his legs tied lest zero gravity sent him floating around.

On his part, the PM extended the nation's greetings to Shukla and told him that the country was awaiting his return.

"You may be far from India, but you are the closest to the hearts of its people. Your name itself is ‘shubh’ (auspicious) and your journey marks a new auspicious chapter for Indian space frontiers," the PM said with Shukla describing his space feat as a "collective national achievement" and promising to apply learnings to the upcoming Indian space missions.

Shukla's abiding message from space was one of unity of mankind even as he told youngsters that even the sky was not the limit for human potential.

"Sky is not the limit, not for me, not for you, not for India... focus on your future so that the future of the country is brighter," he said when the PM asked him to share his thoughts with the youth. Shukla remembered how he never thought he would be an astronaut and said the mantra for success is — "never stop trying".

With the Tricolour in his backdrop (this is the first time an Indian is at the ISS), Shukla, when asked by Modi about first impressions from the orbit, said, "The palpable feeling is of oneness of earth, unity in diversity, of the fact that borders, states, nations do not exist, that we are all a part of one humanity, the earth is our home and we are its citizens."

On a personal note, the PM asked Shukla if he had shared with astronaut friends the Indian culinary heritage he carried to space.

"Yes, we relished gajar halwa, moong halwa and aam ras together," he replied.

The astronaut, the first in space after Sharma's eight-day sojourn in 1984, spoke of mindfulness and meditation as key tools that were helping him cope with the stress of space where "sleeping, walking, performing daily chores was a challenge due to zero gravity".

"You can sleep on the roof, on walls or on the floor. Everything is different here," Shukla quipped.

The PM, while hoping he was recording his experiences, said these would help India in mission Gaganyaan, in building its own space station and in landing an astronaut on the moon. "Your experiences will help a lot in these missions, hope you are recording them," Modi said to Shukla whose calm response was, "Yes, absorbing everything like a sponge."

The two also spoke of experiments Shukla would conduct in space, including those on the use of supplements to restore lost muscle mass and the growth of microalgae to boost food security. Early on in the interaction, Shukla told the PM that a while ago he was flying over Hawaii.