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Kalpana Chawla, with a bright smile, "can-do" expression, and a risk taking attitude, was a successful and accomplished aeronautical engineer who followed her heart and explored avenues to evolve as a person, believing that she can make a difference through discovery and exploration. With so much chaos on planet Earth, the desire to explore other parts of the universe was indeed commendable and required a certain vision.

Reading her brief biography I found many interesting points about her persona. The one that touched me the most was her initiative to reach out to her school in India and bring back students to visit NASA. Her desire to make a difference in the outlook of those children was indeed very noble and showed her true self as a secure person of caliber. People come and go as that's how the cycle of our world flows, but the loss of qualified and hardworking individuals who could have carried the torch of discovery farther, is a loss that cannot be compensated.

May her soul rest in peace and may the efforts she had put in to enlighten other inquisitive minds grow and prosper. (Amen) Personally, I did not like the way her personal life was projected by the media. Kalpana was married to her flight instructor, a frenchman, Jean-Pierre. Some papers did not acknowledge her marital status whereas others portrayed her as a childless married woman. There are many qualified men out there who rose high and did well in their respective fields, but one never finds so much emphasis on their personal lives and their backgrounds vs. their skill set.

Was that even important to mention that she was "childless" while stating her accomplishments as an engineer and an astronaut? Probably, there have not been that many women who made it so far in engineering sciences and space; but this was certainly not a polite way of introducing a South Asian Woman who followed her ambition.

Personally, I found it very derogatory regardless of the intent. Again, media is media and there are many callous reporters sitting behind their computers filling in words without any emotions. Probably, they have the right to show their insensitivity as part of their outlook towards life. On the other hand, as a sensitive reader and an engineer by background, it's my right to point out the crass way of covering her personal life.

In my view, the media needs to grow up and realize that a female engineer is an engineer and her potential is not determined by her biological clock and who she opts to marry.

Till we connect again...

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