According to a November 2013 article in Times of India, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan offered pujas (prayers) at Tirupati Venkateswara Temple before the Mangalyaan Mission with miniature models of the rocket and the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft. Many, at the time, questioned, "how can a scientist who is expected to be rational be doing a seemingly irrational thing?"
It, however, isn't about rational or irrational. If that is so, the very act of sending a vehicle to Mars is an irrational one. One may argue that it's for science, but if we look deeply enough, it is, in fact, for quenching the thirst of knowing the unknown. And, whenever venturing into the unknown, resting our fears onto an external entity has allowed us to maintain our sanity. Then be it during Mangalyaan Mission to the greatest scientists in the country or commencement of construction of a modest home of a commoner. If the idea of an external entity – call it a higher power, God or whatever you would like to – provides relief, a comfort then who are others to question that?
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
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