They Aim For The Stars

           Yes, they aim for the stars. Who are they?  Any guess?  If you think the statement refers to students, you are wrong!

          This is, of course, not to say that students do not aim for the stars.,Yes, they certainly do. But in this particular case the statement does not refer to students. It is about India's space programme and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

           The statement was mentioned in an ad of the State Bank Of India which was published on January 31,2011, on the front page of ``The Times of India.'' It says: ``They aim for the stars with single-minded efficiency. We share their dreams. The Indian space programme is the most economical--and therefore the most efficient--way to place a satellite in orbit. And space exploration, one day may be the salvation of mankind. SBI (State Bank Of India) applauds those visionaries and draws inspiration from this grand endeavour that makes us all proud.''

          There is a sketch of a rocket---the geo synchronous satellite launch vehicle (gslv)--- with a father carrying his daughter and pointing towards the vehicle. The drawing is captioned ``Proud To Be Indian.''

          It is a wonderful ad which has been published at the most appropriate moment because hopefully towards the end of this month a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (pslv) will lift off from Sriharikota carrying the indigenous Resourcesat-2 satellite, YouthSat, a dream project of APJ Abdul Kalam and X-Sat of Singapore NTU University.

         SBI has always been associated with India's space programme.``Beyond Moon and Mars BMM'' recalls that when it first visited Sriharikota in the early 90s it noticed a huge board at the entrance of the spaceport saying: ``State Bank Of India Welcomes You To India's First Spaceport.''

         BMM is a spacebuff and was undoubtedly delighted to see such an ad.

         All it can say is a big thank u to SBI.


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