The Hindu : She dreamt of going to the moon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 03, 2003

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National

She dreamt of going to the moon

Two students of the Tagore Niketan School, who had visited the Columbia astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, in Houston, U.S., standing in front of her picture during a prayer meeting in Karnal on Sunday. — PTI

Karnal Feb 2. As the world mourns for Kalpana Chawla, Manoj, a small child, said he had recently sent a T-Shirt for her through the school authorities.

From early morning, people from different parts of the State started gathering at the Tagore Bal Niketan Senior Secondary School, where the 42-year-old Chawla had her early education, to offer prayers.

Her friends and relatives vividly remember their association with her.

Samridhi, who also went to NASA, was all praise for Kalpana Chawla "When I went to NASA, Kalpana didi was very friendly to me and never let me feel that I was away from home. She always inspired me''.

Her former schoolmate, Meena Bansal, said, "It is hard to believe that the girl who dreamt of going to the moon in her childhood met such a tragedy.''

Sanpreet Kaur, who was sponsored by Kalpana to NASA, said," Kalpana didi always inspired me and I am at a loss of words at this tragedy''.

So were her teachers. ``She was a very innocent and beautiful child. She used to think a lot, but always believed in achieving whatever she aimed for. Her father did not want to send her abroad for further studies but she was adamant in her pursuit of excellence and did India proud. After hearing the tragic news I could not sleep for the whole night,'' said Kalpana's Hindi and History teacher, Ms. Arora.

``It was an accident. Or call it God's will. It can happen to anybody who is travelling by road or by air,'' that was how Purushottam Karra, president of the Edison, a New Jersey-based Indo-American Senior Citizens Council felt — one of the many condolence messages in her memory. PTI, UNI

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