What will I Become after Growing Up?

"We are in the end of 2050, yet another decade, covered almost half a century and we' re finishing it off big, bigger than ever that there's no way we can get such an end like we got now. And we present to you guys, that great finisher who laid road to that never - said - in - the - history like a finish. A great Physicist, best Scientist known and a marvelous Astronaut that India ever had produced. Welcome to the Science Boy Show, Mr. Rakesh", a telly presenter said on welcoming the most profound astronaut of India as she had described.

"Thanks, Kalpana, for your warm gesturing welcome", he said.

"Thanks to you, sir. You might be in the big time, getting backed up for the journey you're gonna undertake and in all those busy hours, you still could find a time for us to interact with us with the crores waiting on the other end to hear your words. Thanks to you, sir", she said with all those expressions, smiles, like a typical anchor would do.

"Well, I got to give a good bye speech to my nation someday. As nature, we dwell in, taught us there isn't any certain things we can lay a strong assurance or adherence to. Who knows what is in my cards?. Who can be sure what this journey might take me to?. I might die, might wander into space without any cling to hang on, or it can be anything more terrifying. So, a chance to deliver my final words to my loving Nation was what I am waiting for and it was made possible through your show. Thanks to you guys", he said with the most soothing and warmest voice ever possible. Yeah, such a great man.

"Although you're true in obvious ways as all the scientists ought to be, there are things like hopes, faith, with it's own powers that we can't deny, can we?", she said while the astronaut nodded a yes, "Then, with all those hopes, we, and by we, the whole Indians out there or the whole earth which you're representing in this journey, will keep you under our warmth of our prayers that you will return back with all those ticks in your taskary".

"Well thank you so much. Will carry your hopes and will return back showing thumbs up", he said as he showed the thumbs up sign to the camera, thus to the people seeing it.

"So, sir. As Arthur C Clarke quotes out, 'Two possibilities exist. Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying', so which side of possibility of terrifying we're now as per your perception?", she said as she rests her chins against her hands that rests on one of the arms of a chair.

He wiped his nose with his fingers, took a slight deep sigh and said, "I can't be sure, but why can't we be in the first possibility. May be the same question if asked in 2020's, it would be still a 50 to 50 chance. But now we are in just a few miles behind to grab the answer and from the sight we can see now, I guess it's pretty much that somebody was there in those deep dark cover bag out there".

"Well, I guess I can have a possible boy friend from other planets", she said and laughed and so do the astronaut, Rakesh.

After they shared a short laugh, the anchor continued.

"So sir, what exactly is the aims put forth in this historical exploration through such a large amounts of light years that we, the humans had never traveled?"

"Those are just two simple objectives to be said in plain English terms. One is to find an habitable planet that the space out there could offer and to find if any other life form even if it is in the size of just a microbe exists in this wide spread black cover", he said with his hands orbiting like a earth does.

"Even space X conducted the same manned space probe and it did failed, the man never returned back, even with millions and millions invested, all like turning into ash and even NASA with the same objectives on their back launched an unmanned probe in those black covers and foreseen a same result. But India, as always, invested simple, not in large amounts, with the same visions in their eyes. What was the special thing it had incurred to ascertain us that will not end up anything like before space missions?. Because, it's a matter of not a few kilometres but 500 light years into the space", she said with her fingers criss-crossing each other.

He thought for a while with his fingers on his chin and a hand folded. Then, as adjusting his shirt collar, he said, "Well, I can't deny of the fact that our space mission might end up like before. But, with some advanced tools that I can't make it up in plain English which were not used before by any of those stated failure missions, and with that hope, faith which as you said has it's own powers, we can assure, not ensure, that we could nail this. But we do have to wait for a little more longer to have a conclusive answer", he said and smiled.

"Well, we are really looking forward for our conclusive answer to be more positive and that it should bring lot of pride to our nation", said the telly presenter with a grin.

He gave away the namasthe sign with his dimple smile.

"Alright, sir, in this search for an answer to thousands of years persisting question 'Are we alone?' and 'Is there any alternative for our wonderful planet?', who stands as your inspiration?. Rakesh Sharma?, Kalpana Chawla? or Yuri Gagarin?", said Kalpana, the anchor.

He laughed and said, "Well, isn't this the most fascinating question of all?". Kalpana leaned forward, gesturing keen attention.

"To be frank, it was an 7 year old kid"

Everyone in the set burst into laughter, with Kalpana asking what.

"Well, as much as humorous as it sounds, it is very well true".

"So far, until today, scientists had discovered 9 planets that revolve around the sun", the teacher with a chart fixed in the board and a stick pointing to it, said, "And . . . . ".

Just then amidst all the normals sitting inside the class quietly staring at the chart, a hand of a kid rose.

"Well, I didn't even start my topic and here's the hand. Come on you brat, what was it?", the teacher said on folding her hands, staring at the kid.

With the laughs around him, the kid looked anxious. He looked around and when the sounds of tease stopped, he stood up and spelled out his question.

"How the planets were able to revolve around the sun, mam?".

"Well, that was because of gravitational force which is out of the syllabus. You will learn in your upcoming grades. Now sit down", the teacher said and turned towards the chart.

The kid quietly sat down looking around. A kid from the back flicked him at his head and said, "Here's Mr. Einsten, asking question. You know your marks in the mid term, right?. Trying to be smarter, uh?".

The kid silently slides his body away from those kids at the back and sat on the corner of the bench, scratching his head where he flicked.

"Out of those nine planets, only Earth serves the source for the life forms. It is because that earth is the only planet that has three things that can support life. Those things are Water, Energy from the sun and essential organic compounds like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and so on", the teacher said just then the same hand rose again. The teacher again folded her hands, tilted her head, showing a sense of bitterness. While the kid slowly got up, wiped his forehead with his kerchief, looked around afraid but bold enough to spell out his question.

"Earth is just a planet like any other planets in the solar system. How only earth could have three life supporting things while the other planets don't?", he said crystal clear though he was frightened to pronounce his words.

Teacher, on getting heated up, irked out, rudely said, "Is this a question?. Is there any sense in it?. Well can I ask you one question?", the teacher said, "What is your mid term marks in social science?"

The kid looked around, folded his hands and almost was crying. The kid from the behind shouted as "54, Mam" and smirked.

"Phew, just 54, and that too wasn't because of your smart brain. I dragged the marks to pass you out. Being a dumb, but thinking yourself as Newton asking about gravitational force. Do you plan on going out of the class or sit down right now?", the teacher said and as the kid sat down almost weeping, the teacher continued her lesson.

During the interval, the other kids used to bully him, mock him up with absurd things like pouring water on him and such.

Silently, deep inside his weeps, his cries, a magma started to rise, to fire him up. That lava inside him doesn't know what exactly should do about his quest for his answers to his question marks in his mind until that night.

After having his dinner, at 9, he went out, jumped into the meadows outside his house, slowly walking, looking for a clean place to sit. Then, on seeing a tree, he leaned down, sat and placed his back head against the trunk of the tree.

While the usual street kids, run around and played hide and seek, this unusual kid, as stated by the society, looked up and construed the deep black covers dotted with shining stars.

His alacrity now begins to spurt when the stars shone at him. Many questions that foresees it's origin from his single question, "Are we alone?" encircled and engulfed his mind.

"Well, may be the safe distance from the sun, not too close to be hot, not too far away to be cold might be the reason for those said three life supporting things. But as I can see there are billions of stars in that dark cover and so there should be trillions of planets that should revolve around them. Is there not at least one of the planet that should be in the safe distance away from it's own star to support even an ant?. Or it is there but I can't see?".

The kid stood up, not taking his eyes away from the sky and stars, and shouted like a maniac, "Can anyone hear meeeeeeeeee?".

He waited for few seconds for their reply but in vain because no one didn't.

Then, a spark of more questions arose. He googled in the smart phone he brought and found that age of Universe to be a rounded value of 14 billion years and also found out that Universe is still young. He, then, again started to ask his inner self.

"So in this 14 billion years of it's life, has the Universe already saw life even far before we existed and has they had all died out and that's why they aren't replying to me?", he thought,"Or has the Universe, as told it was young, saw it's life forms for the first time through us and some life around there is still in its ripening stage?. Which side it should be?".

"Why can't life exist without water?. Is it that life gets adapted to the water and breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide cycle just because earth provides only oxygen and water to sustain our life?. If it is so, is it not that life could be adapted to any kind of situations like solid water or breathe in carbon dioxide or sulphur dioxide and breathe out oxygen or something else to live?. Why it should be always oxygen and water?", the kid looked above so intense, "Oh Universe, what are you hiding from me?".

He then looked down and thought, "Or else, Universe is waiting for someone to come to itself and find it's own secrets of wonders?".

The kid, then right away, opened google, and typed, "the person going to space is called". Yeah, of all those questions he had asked his inner self, there was only one question he had the answer for. And know what was the question?.