Latest Banking jobs   »   Superheros are not born – they...

Superheros are not born – they are made!

Dear Readers,
“I was not born for one corner. 
The whole world is my native land.”
Superheros are not born – they are made! |_2.1

It was these words of the philospher, Seneca, that Kalpana Chalwa used to describe the “connection and stewardship” she felt towards Earth and the universe.

All of you fall into a situation of ‘If’ many times in your life. This ‘If’ leads many to failures. But it is not necessary that ‘If’ will lead to failure always, ‘If’ can lead you to success also. And this difference between failure or success due to ‘If’ depends only on your approach on how do you take this ‘If’ in your life. 
Being students you fail many times in the examination and you feel that you could not do because you do not get time to study, your surroundings are not supportive, If you could have a better primary education you could crack the exams easily right now, If you had good financial condition then you could do many a things and many more ‘If’s’ come in life. But speaking is easy and doing is difficult. And those who take this ‘If’ positively and work for it become finally successful. Every successful person has many ‘If’s’ in their life. So, we are starting this “If..? – that creates winners” series. Today we are going to discuss about the story of 1st Indian Women Astronaut ‘Kalpana Chawla’.



Even after being born in a male-dominated society, where doing anything different from what other girls were doing was like a sin, where boys were given all the freedom and girls weren’t even allowed to work; Kalpana proved that nothing is impossible if you have zeal to do that…if you are determined to do that and if you have thought that you have to do ….anyhow, anyway!

Yes. She was not born NRI, she was not born in an elite family
and she was not free of all the social boundations which one faces during the struggle to success. She was born to a laborious cou
ple in a small town Karnal of Haryana. Her father was a migrant from the regions of Pakistan at the time of Indo-Pak Partition. When he arrived India, he did not had anything with him. Not even a couple of utensils. But he was a man who believed to struggle so that next generation could not face the scarcity and pain which he had gone through. After experimenting with a lot of different jobs, Kalpana’s father finally set up a Tyre manufacturing company where he was a worker as well as an engineer. So, we can say that gusto to achieve her dreams was inbuilt in herself from generations.She has been a role model to several women in terms of achievement and contributions to the field of aeronautics. Growing up in a male dominant society, Kalpana never let her dreams of flying be affected in any way.

Superheros are not born – they are made! |_3.1

There is an incidence from Kalpana’s school life. Her Maths teacher was teaching Venn diagram sets. While giving the example of ‘Null Set’, teacher mentioned that ‘Indian Women astronaut is a null set, as no Indian women astronaut exists in this world’. Everyone else affirmed the teacher, but Kalpana replied that may be one day that set may not be NULL. And as you all know, Kalpana became the 1st Indian women to fill that NULL SET!


Salutes to her! 

So Students, don’t you too want to make some NULL Set a UNIT one? If yes! then work for that. 
Thinking is good, but only thinking is bad! 

It is well said in Bhagwat Gita that;

“कर्मणये वाधिकारस्ते मां फलेषु कदाचन । मां कर्मफलहेतुर्भू: मांते संङगोस्त्वकर्मणि” ।। 

Quran says,

“That man can have nothing but what he strives for; That (the fruit of) his striving will soon come in sight: Then will he be rewarded with a reward complete.”

Guru Granth Sahib says,

“The best way of worship is to do good deeds”

Bible says,

“When we think about profit usually we think about money, but it can be anything.
For example, hard work in school will lead to more wisdom, a better job, more opportunities, etc. Don’t be that person with big dreams who says I’m going to do this and this, but doesn’t. Don’t be that person who wants the results of labor without sweating.”


And every other religion teaches the same. Even practical life says the same. Then what are you waiting for? 

Waiting for a miracle to happen? It will never happen; unless you work hard to the extent that miracle gets compelled to happen.

Superheros are not born – they are made! |_4.1Whenever Kalpana saw the birds flying in the sky she too wished If she had wings. Whenever she saw the Airplanes passing through the sky, she wished If she could fly in that. 

Although she was well taught to be a typical good girl since childhood, but she had bigger dreams in her eyes. One day she came home and cut her hairs and said that looks doesn’t matter for her. She always wore pant and T-shirt unlike other girls in her surroundings. She stressed more on intelligence than beauty.



Superheros are not born – they are made! |_5.1After finishing school from Karnal, Kalpana wanted to pursue a course from aeronautical engineering at Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. She was the first girl to study aeronautical engineering in India. Although she faced some hot and cold moments in family when she expressed her wish to pursue aeronautical engineering, but finally she succeeded and she did it. After that she moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas. She then earned a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado.





Kalpana began working at the NASA Ames Research Center in 1988, and joined the Corps in March 1995 after becoming a naturalized US citizen.


In 1997, she became the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian person to fly in space.



Superheros are not born – they are made! |_6.1In 2000, Kalpana was selected for her second flight as a part of the crew of STS-107. But unfortunately her second flight was also her last.





She was posthumously honoured with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, NASA Space Flight Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

Superheros are not born – they are made! |_7.1

Though the first female astronaut from India died on that fateful day, she will always be remembered from her courage and hard work.




Now, it is your task to think and analyse what can you learn from the life story of the Superhero – Kalpana Chawla?


If you are actually determined to do something, you can surely do it!








All the best! Make us Proud!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *