Tackle challenges with confidence, astronaut Rakesh Sharma tells students

Tackle challenges with confidence, astronaut Rakesh Sharma tells students

Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian into Space, saw a roaring welcome from the students of Osmania University as he joined ’Taksh 2023’ – the 106th Foundation Day celebrations of the university on Wednesday.

The retired Wing Commander had a message for the students while sharing his journey as an astronaut that challenges can be overcome with confidence and training as he did. Training and mentally preparing to ace the challenges away from the earth was what made his journey easy, he said while presenting his concept “Gaganyan & Beyond” with the students. The audience was awestruck with some of the visuals of the training of astronauts, techniques applied to tackle space sickness, visuals of the sun from the spaceship.

Drawing into his innate experience he asked the young ones to be effective team players, to “Grab every opportunity that comes your way, even if it appears to be out of reach,” not be fence-sitters, and not to be afraid of failure. An engrossing interaction session with the students and faculty was coordinated by the members of Astronomy Dr. D. Shantipriya, Dr. K. Chenna Reddy, Dr. J. Rukmini & Dr. K. Sriram.

The students raised issues of how he had overcome his fears of getting into space, how he found balance in his personal and professional life; whether India meets global standards in space research, and what it takes to become an astronaut.

Prof. E. Suresh Kumar, member, University Grants Commission, and VC of EFLU; Prof. D. Ravinder, V-C, Osmania University; Prof. P. Laxminarayana, Registrar, OU and Prof. G. Mallesham, Dean, Development and UGC Affairs also spoke. A grand gala cultural event was organised post lunch where well-known poet, Suddala Ashok Teja was the chief guest.