Why the moon mission is also a cultural triumph

The first definite indication that millions of tense Indians got of the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon was the televised images of Isro scientists jumping in delight and congratulating each other.Science and technology, it is said, transcends national boundaries. However, there was no mistaking the total Indian-ness of the celebrations in the monitoring room of Isro. Maybe this is how the nerve centres of cutting-edge technology companies in Silicon Valley, California, will look in the not-too-distant future.For the moment, however, there was no mistaking the fact that last week’s successful moon mission was entirely an Indian success story. Most important, this is how it looked and was internalised by the country. The countless WhatsApp messages juxtaposing the 1963 photograph of a rocket head being carried on a bicycle with latest images of the Vikram lander have driven home the point that India made the journey its way — and despite modest resources and the unending sneers of those who already had a place on the global high table.Nine years ago, Narendra Modi’s invocation of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India was brushed aside by cosmopolitan India as xenophobic claptrap, so typical of Hindu insularity. The global condescension towards India’s pretensions of greatness was summed up in the infamous New York Times cartoon depicting the dhoti-clad rustic with his cow knocking on the doors of the global space club. Today, no one is laughing. The bundi-clad and sari-wearing Indian men and women have proved a point.Watch: India celebrates a historic moment medium nocaption102993310Maybe it required something as spectacular as a moon mission to drive home a point that should have been apparent to the more discerning. During one of his annual trips to the West, Rahul Gandhi said in a public address that he was embarrassed at being told by European diplomats that their Indian counterparts were no longer interested in listening — which, presumably, meant acquiescing. He understood that to imply that all life had been snuffed out of Indian officialdom by an overbearing Modi-led government. What escaped his attention and, indeed, the attention of India’s old elite was the disinclination of India’s new nationalism to suffer being patronised.This was clearly apparent in the body language of Indian cricket from the day Sourav Ganguly waved his shirt triumphantly from the balcony at Lord’s after India pulled off a spectacular victory.Maybe the spirit of national resurgence should have been discerned in the determination and efficiency with which free rations were distributed and universal vaccinations were undertaken during the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.The destruction of ingrained stereotypes that accompanied the successful implementation of the cashless money transfer programme through mobile phones should also have alerted the remaining sceptics in the global community to the profound shifts in India. But like the idiot that pointed to the finger when the finger pointed to the moon, the temptation to pay heed to the gatekeepers of despair proved very tempting.The successful Chandrayaan-3 mission may have momentarily silenced the sceptics, including those who didn’t miss the opportunity to wonder why Modi’s message should have been part of the Isro telecast. It was, however, the pained silence of those who had devoted almost every day since May 2014 to plotting the return of an India that respected old hierarchies, both nationally and globally.Just before the moon landing, there was a pathetic attempt to draw the veteran music conductor Zubin Mehta into a political controversy. It didn’t quite succeed but behind it was the insidious suggestion — also the default position of the western media — that democracy is endangered in India, and the Muslim minority doubly so. medium103091038There is no reason to imagine that India’s by-now assured position in the exclusive space club or even the visible demonstration of the colossal human talent committed to national objectives will necessarily change perceptions overnight.The bluster of the chief minister who imagined that one Rakesh Roshan had earlier been despatched to the moon by Indira Gandhi is symptomatic of those who believe that national priorities should never cross the borders of the mundane.They compliment those who would rather that India restricts its ambitions to that of a middle-income country, with Indians climbing global peaks (in the boardrooms of transnational corporations) but not necessarily in India.Their priorities also unwittingly assist the schemes of the declining powers for whom post-nationalism is a clever way to blunt the energies of a people who are slowly liberating themselves from the shackles of subordination.For millions of Indians, the successful moon mission is much more than the coming of age of desi science and technology. It symbolises a cultural triumph — the harmonious blend of values born of ancient faiths and modern science. The Enlightenment had suggested this was impossible.Read more from the author here.