Vision 2020: Always a child and a priceless reaction when the Tricolour was planted on the moon

New Delhi, Dec 25: On November 18 2008, India was officially on the moon. Several tense moments and then the Lunar Impact Probe launched by Chandrayaan 1 planted the Tricolour on the moon.

The mood was upbeat and India had become the fourth country after the US, Russia and ESA to have planted the national flag on the moon.

The mood was dizzying at the ISRO. While the then chief Madhavan Nair had tears in his eyes, he had said that India can achieve anything.

However, there was one more man in the room, who was not just elated, but was behaving very child like. That was our former President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam.

The moment he learnt that the Tricolour had been planted on the moon, he punched his fist in the air. It was after all his idea to plant the Tricolour on the moon. India has a flag on the Mount Everest and now it on the moon. I am so happy, I am so elated, he said like a child. I congratulate ISRO on this remarkable achievement, he had also said.