The largest, most advanced rover NASA successfully touched down on PLANET MARS on Thursday 18^th February 2021, after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million kilometers) at 3:55 p.m. EST (2:25 p.m. IST). The Perseverance rover mission marks an ambitious first step in the effort to collect Mars samples and return them to Earth.

In India, it was a glorious moment because the voice that announced – “Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely on the surface of Mars, ready to begin seeking the signs of past life,” was an Indian-American NASA engineer Dr Swati Mohan.

The next day newspapers were filled with more accolades for Dr. Swati Mohan being born in India (that’s irrespective of the fact that she went to US when she was one year old) than for the Perseverance touchdown on Mars. ‘The bindi-clad Dr. Mohan’ was drawing lot of appreciation. It seemed, the touchdown was just another event; more important was that a scientist who made the announcement was born and India and the most important was – she wore a Bindi when she declared what the entire world was waiting for.

The tweets that followed are the ones that caught my attention –

• Today, I wore a bindi and took a lecture
• I will henceforth be proud to sport a bindi wherever I go
• From a time when bindi was a taboo to a day when bindi makes an important statement
• Bindi is the new cool
• Now I have no shame in putting a bindi on my forehead

These tweets were being appreciated, commented on and retweeted – indicating yes you are right. While humans and science are reaching milestones, this event shows human mindset in a ghastly crisis. It is just an indication of the mindset few (or most) of us are living in.

We seem to crave for acceptance and approval from others. What I think of myself or my rights and wrongs seem irrelevant if the world thinks otherwise. Have you seen yourself behave/ think like these –

• I should be doing what everyone is doing, even if I don’t like it, else I won’t be taken as a part of this group
• I must follow the path that most of my peer are pursuing, else I would be laughed upon if I fail in the future
• If I am good in studies, I must take Science. Bright students are meant to become doctors, engineers or scientists
• I should pull others legs to be able to make everyone laugh, though I feel bad when someone is joked upon
• It is okay to be a social drinker, even when I know it is bad for my health
• A cigarette in my hand, makes me feel young and dashing, inspite of me knowing it is not true
• My kid must go to the best (read most expensive) school in the town, else others will say that I am not giving best to my kids
• I should choose a career, which seems safe even if it means producing mediocre results. Any off stream increases chances of failure
• I must not disagree with my parents even if it means going against my own wishes in most important matters like marriage and profession

It is so often that we get carried away into doing things, which we don’t necessarily like, but end up doing it thinking about others reactions and feelings. In pleasing the world, we have forgotten to please the most important person – YOU. We seem to care a damn about our feelings, thoughts and emotions. Everything is driven by and done for others

If you want to live a life, which is worthy, start living for yourself. Back your thoughts and actions. Success and failures are anyways a part of life. You just have to learn and move ahead. I would say that more than success or failure, being content and satisfied with what you are doing in life is extremely important. It’s time to do things that make more sense to you rather than pleasing others! A complete life will be one where you live for yourself and not for others.

Coming back to the landing – In an interview to NDTV, Dr. Swati says, “I’ve worn a bindi since I was a child. I wear it most of the days at NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). So for me, and actually, for all of my colleagues at JPL, it was business as usual in how we were dressed. It was a little bit out of our wildest dreams to see that that was what was picked up as part of the Landing Day show”

While the newspaper headlines read – BINDIYA CHAMKEGI (meaning the bindi shines), to me what shone was – Dr. Swati Mohan’s composure and the dedication to focus on important task, which might pave the way for the future of humanity!