YouthAffairz

Grit:  Flying Officer M P Anil Kumar is the personification of an indomitable fighting spirit. Kumar, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy who was adjudged the best Air Force cadet of the 65th Course, had gone on to become an ace fighter pilot. But his brilliant flying career was cut short in a freak road accident when he severely injured his spine, losing complete mobility below the neck. Kumar taught himself to write initially by holding a pen with his teeth and subsequently on a computer using a specially-modified keyboard holding a stylus in his mouth. A prolific writer, his life story "Airborne to Chairborne" is part of the tenth standard syllabus in Maharashtra and Kerala. Read the story .....

Expert speak:  "Mera Bharat Mahan - India, is indeed a great country - full of contradictions. We talk of corruption, but who started it in the first place?" These are excerpts from a speech delivered by Dr Vijaypat Singhania at the 47th annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in his capacity as chairman of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Society and the Board of Governors. He has since relinquished office as the chairman following completion of his tenure. Read more .....

Inspiration:  Marsha Ivins, a veteran astronaut who has logged 55 days in space, advises youngsters to "Never take a 'no' for an answer". Read more ....

Fiction:  May 7 marks the birth anniversary of poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. To commemorate the occasion, we have attempted a crude translation of one of Tagore's short stories. The story "Holiday" is about the travails of a teenager. Read the full story .....

Colours:  For the youth, life is a splash of colours. Whether on or off the campus, living is sheer fun, joy and laughter. Share some light moments here .....

Brain Teaser:  There are 12 coins. One of the coins is fake. It is known that a fake coin weighs either slightly less or slightly more than a real coin. Using a balance scale, how can you find the fake coin, and determine if it weighs less or more than a real coin in only three weighings? Can you help me solve this? Please help .....

History:  May 7 marks the birth anniversay of poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. To commemorate the occasion, here is a speech delivered by Tagore. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Tagore in 1913 but he could not be present for the awards function. On May 26, 1921, he visited Stockholm and addressed the Royal Swedish Academy and delivered this speech and acknowledged and accepted the honour. Read more .....

Art and culture:  Ramesh Pachange is a "chowghada" exponent who represents the fifth generation of his family to continue the tradition. He is determined to preserve this dying art form. Read more .....

"Never take a 'no' for an answer"

(PHOTO CREDIT: NASA)

Marsha Ivins, a veteran astronaut who has logged 55 days in space, advises youngsters to "Never take a 'no' for an answer".

Marsha was on a two-week visit to India under an outreach programme in April. Marsha recalled that she had developed a passion for exploring space as a ten-year-old in 1961. "I was always interested. When I was 10 years old in 1961, in the United States, we sent our first astronaut, Allan Shepard, into space and for the next ten years, as we sent people to the Mercury and Gemini and Apollo programme and ultimately walking on the moon, everybody in the United States, particularly children, were captivated by this, we got to stay up late at night and watch the walk on the moon, they stopped schools and got new black and white televisions that we could watch it and astronauts of my generation all felt the same way," Marsha says.

Prior to that, the career of astronauts did not find much appeal. Even the school system did not offer any encouragement to become an astronaut, she said.

However, caught by the fancy, Marsha did her aerospace engineering and after two unsuccessful attempts, was finally accepted as an astronaut on her third attempt in 1984. "Never take a 'no' for an answer," Marsha advises youngsters while relating her own perseverence.

Marsha has retired from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after a 37-year stint. As an astronaut, she was member of five space missions. "My last mission in 2001 was the most challenging," Marsha says. She had been entrusted with the responsibility of the robotic arm operation during that mission. "I trained for the mission for 18 months and had I failed in executing my responsibilities, it would have ruined the space station," she said. The mission was a success.

How does Earth look from space? "The Earth can be seen as a planet and not as a collection of cities. Physical boundaries are not discernible but man-made boundaries can be made out," she answered.

Some useful links for
your career:

• Union Public Service Commission - www.upsc.gov.in
• IIT-Kharagpur - www.iitkgp.ac.in
• Indian Statistical Institute - www.isical.ac.in
• Indian Institute of Technology Madras - www.iitm.ac.in
• Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - www.iimahd.ernet.in
• Indian Institute of Mass Communication - www.iimc.nic.in
• IIT Bombay - www.iitb.ac.in
• Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad - www.ismdhanbad.ac.in
• Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi - www.bitmesra.ac.in
• Central Institute of Fisheries Nautical and Engineering Training - www.cifnet.nic.in
• Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (Deemed University) - www.iiita.ac.in
• Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi - www.cmfri.com
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai - www.tiss.edu