Kalpana Chawla

Amar Chitra Katha #736

by Margie Sastry, Shyam Desai (Illustrator), Anant Pai (Editor)

Kalpana Chawla grew up in Karnal in Haryana, with dreams of being among the stars. With razor-sharp intellect, determination and hard work, she turned her dreams to reality and became the first woman astronaut from India. Passionate about flying, Kalpana never allowed any hurdles to come in the way of charting a challenging career for herself. The journey from Karnal to Chandigarh to America was long and hard, but Kalpana soon reached her goal of becoming an aerospace engineer. As she said, "I never thought while pursuing my studies, or doing anything else, about being a woman, or a person from a small city, or a different country. I pretty much had my dreams, like anybody else, and I followed them." Considered to be an outstanding engineer by her peers at NASA in USA, Kalpana kept strong ties with India and remained a simple, fun loving person deeply concerned about the environment. She found passion and true inspiration while soaring through the skies, high above the earth. "Religion is something which gives you peace of mind," she said. "And to me flying brings tremendous peace and satisfaction. So flying is my religion." Kalpana met her end on the morning of February 1, 2003 after the Columbia space shuttle exploded during re-entry over Texas. She always reached out to the stars, she went there and beyond. Hers is a story of unusual courage, ambition and achievement that will inspire young people for all time to come.

Genres: Comics, Biography, India

35 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Neel Tullu]

It was a breath of fresh air when it comes to autobiographies. The language conveyed being simple yet clear, the writing descriptive at times yet brief where required and overall spreading the message that you can do anything if you put your heart at it. Yes, there will be difficulties along the way and things that would blow you out of your comfort one but still sticking to your way is the key to the ultimate goal of life that you envision. The only not so appealing part which is to be expected was the third person writing which made it more like a fan-written journal of sorts rather than a life journey. A great book indeed nonetheless.

[Vaishnavi Rai]

An inspiring personality gone too soon . Love her journey so much .
💖💖💖💖

[Abhinav]

i want to read

[Surya]

"The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it."

She was also a vegetarian throughout her life. Even at space and during the rigorous practices she continued being a vegetarian.

KC's family migrated from Pakistan after the India/Pakistan partition wherein hindus were forcefully driven out of Pakistan. The family of 20 had zero money and left a huge home. Inspiring that from zero they built a successful business and had enough money and love to send her daughter abroad.

KC walked her talk. Maybe because of her wonderful qualities or luck she sure was blessed with a very supportive family throughout her life. RIP KC.

[Naga Vishnu Kanth]

A story of a girl from a modest environment but with great dreams. She believed that 'the path from dreams to reality does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get onto it and the perseverance to follow it. ' and she has been an example of this path from dreams to reality with perseverance and vision.

She was first in filling the null set of Indian (origin) Women astronomer among many other firsts that she had done during her lifetime.

[Karthika]

Million Stars. Just love her. I cried reading about her journey

[Ravi Kumar Dandapani]

nice

[Navya]

Kalpana Chawla's life story is so inspiring. What she dreamt of was fulfilled before death. So much determined, courageous she was. ACK had done great job in explaining her story in short via illustrations.

[Nightingale Pages]

I read it at my home during class 7th . The letters are big , language is simple to understand. It describes whole life , journey & dreams of Kalpana Chawla .. One of the best biography i read . She is one of the great Indian lady.

[Rhea]

POV this book shaped your life as a kid and now you're becoming someone that younger you would be proud of