'I will be in competition': Shubhanshu Shukla calls on students to aspire for India's Moon mission

Lucknow, Aug 25 (PTI) Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla urged students at his school to aspire to be on the Indian spaceflight to the Moon but warned them they may have "competition" in store for the coveted spots on the crewed mission.

"I am going to be in competition!" he said in a lighter vein, eliciting peals of laughter from the young crowd at his alma mater, City Montessori School (CMS) in Lucknow on Monday. "So work hard and we will compete together and let's see who goes to the Moon in 2040," he said.

Indian Air Force Group Captain Shukla, the first Indian to visit the International Space Station, reached his hometown this morning for the first time since his historic Axiom-4 space mission.

Although he arrived in India from the US on August 17, he is visiting the Uttar Pradesh capital now after participating in multiple outreach events, including a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 18 in Delhi. He also met Yogi Adityanath at the UP chief minister's residence.

"The entire landscape is changing, and I think the future is extremely bright," Shukla said addressing the gathering at his school, stressing that it was perseverance that has defined his success.

Shukla said he wanted to speak to students about what's happening in space exploration and why it is important for the new generation.

"In my experience that I have had in the last five years of training and last one year of flying to the International Space Station and coming back -- looking at how this entire landscape is changing, I think the future is extremely bright," he said.

"We are at the right time, right opportunities exist now," said Shukla, dressed in a crisp black T-shirt and matching trousers paired with a brown jacket that had the insignia of IAF and the tricolour on one sleeve and the emblem of the ISRO on the other sleeve.

Shux, as he is fondly called, said he has had three different interactions with children while on orbit and no one asked him what he did or what astronauts do, but he was asked how he became an astronaut.

"I think that speaks volumes about where your mind is going. Please aspire! We have a great vision and ambition to land on the Moon by 2040. And it would be probably one of you who would be setting foot there," India's newest space traveller asked of the younger generation.

Shukla said he believes it is a "golden time" for space missions and he is amazed by the capability of the new generation.

"The future looks so promising to me. The energy that I had when I came back to India is growing every day, looking at the enthusiasm that everybody has. I am pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm displayed by everybody here," he said.

Acknowledging the dance and other performances put up by the students of his alma mater, Shukla told the gathering, "I was not even halfway there, not as talented as you all are. And if I could reach where I have reached with being what I was, I can only imagine what you kids will be when you grow up." "The only thing that is required is perseverance, nothing else, just perseverance," he stressed.

Shukla also stressed the importance of the spirit not to give in.

He joked that this spirit was exhibited by how the school's manager, Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, pursued Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure that Shukla comes to his hometown soon after his return from the space mission.

"After my initial interaction with the defence minister in Delhi, he told me, 'sir, please aap Lucknow chale jaaiye, Geeta ma'am ne pareshan kar rakha hai (sir, please go to Lucknow, Geeta ma'am has been chasing us for your visit)," Shukla said.

"I want to see this spirit of not wanting to give up in each one of you when you grow up," he told the thousands of children gathered in the auditorium.

Shukla, who grew up in Lucknow's Triveni Nagar, said he was happy to be back home. He also rated the joyous and warm reception here over what he received in the national capital upon his return from the US.

"I did get a welcome in Delhi but it was nothing like this. Thank you for the warm welcome. I am so happy to be back home," he said, promoting massive cheers from the crowd.

He was joined by his father, Shambhu Shukla and mother, Asha Shukla, on the stage.

The programme at CMS Gomti Nagar extension branch also had visibly emotional moments for the Shukla family before and after the speech of the astronaut, who hugged his mother as his teary-eyed father stood by them. PTI KIS SKY SKY