This poem was submitted as part of India Science Festival’s flagship science fiction writing competition, ‘Spin Your Science’.
A foreword : The theme of my poem is space through eyes of Indian girl especially that one from rural area. Because this is what I am and after observing the girls of my age and our surroundings where there are lot more boundaries and the idea of Space for everyone is practically not feasible. And I think my journey of convincing my parents to let me do a bachelors in aerospace has also inspired me to write this poem space for everyone.
Yes! I love to get lost in the space,
Thoughts of black holes, worm holes,
And concepts of dark matter and
Mesmerizing glimpse of endless vacuum stuffed with dust,
celestial bodies and cosmic rays
Spellbound me,
My hair woven in a braid are shining in polar lights,
And my deep Asian eyes amazed by cosmic perfections
proudly become evident of
Spacecrafts just about to launch,
Three two one……..
Here I am in a parallel universe!
And I wonder,
How will the smell of cryogenic fuel be like?
Ooops !!! Again ended up setting my poha on flame……………!
Who am I? Typical Indian Girl,
Dressed in shalwar kamiz,
Rolling chapatis with belan but my thoughts are
Trying to adjust in whirl of curiosity,
And I believe ‘ Space For Everyone’
Yah! There should be atleast,
Stars, are not mere fragments of glitter for me,
Sky is calendar, full of anecdotes, see with eyes of knowledge,
Its full of mysteries that are awaiting to be understood,
Stuck in my thoughts, I am about to cross the lane of my house ,
My aunt shouted out from nowhere,
Why you are walking so bluntly, have some shame,
Bow down your head,
Kowtow!!!!
and walk like Girls do,
I startled,
Of course I experienced ‘Space Sickness’,
but all I Knew was ‘Space for Everyone’ and
am still moving towards endless space!
Where there are more kalpnaas,
More valentina Tereshkovas ,
More sally rides smiling on media questions like,
‘will you cry if things go wrong?’
