In June 2024, astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore embarked on an 8-day mission. However, due to technical failures, the spacecraft meant for their return came back without them. They now wait for the arrival of a new spacecraft, possibly in April 2025—an unexpected stay of over 300 days.
She is often in my thoughts, and I wonder how she faces each day with such prolonged uncertainty about her return. What goes through her mind as she navigates the days confined in a spacecraft? How does she find strength, surrounded by the vast and infinite space?
Kalpana’s Profound Insight
Kalpana Chawla, the first woman of Indian origin in space, when asked about her experiences, replied:
“One of the strangest things is that when I was about to sleep, I realised I was only aware of my thoughts. Because you are weightless you don’t feel your legs or your body. In a sense then, you are just your intelligence. It’s amazing you can’t feel anything but your consciousness.”
This is the essence of Vedanta: that we are not the body but pure awareness or consciousness. She gained this insight not through scriptural study but as an experiential lesson in the unique weightless environment of space.
Sunita’s Strength in Gita and Ganesha
While keeping track of Sunita’s return to Earth, I came across a report that she carries the Bhagavad Gita and an idol of Ganesha on her space trips.
As she waits for the spacecraft to bring her back, I am now sure she must be finding comfort in both Jnana (knowledge) and Bhakti(devotion).
The Gita enables her to embark on another voyage, this time into her inner Self, meditating on pure awareness, aided no doubt by her zero-gravity environment. At the same time, her faith in Ganesha will help her surrender to a larger cosmic force while she is quite literally amidst the cosmos. She therefore has a twofold mechanism to support her: meditating on her true Self and deriving the emotional strength that only Bhakti can offer during such a prolonged and uncertain wait.
Let us keep Sunita in our thoughts and prayers as she continues her mission, and wish her a safe journey back to Earth.
Hari’s Curry -20
References
https://www.ndtv.com/science/what-sunita-williams-carries-to-space-as-her-lucky-charm-5600710