ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 launch is inspiring childhood memories of Karva Chauth and power cuts

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is asking its fans to share their favorite childhood memories of the Moon.
• Some Twitter users are reminiscing about how they used to call it Chanda Mama (Uncle Moon) or how their moms used to fast before the full Moon.
• Others have shared fantasies where they thought they could fish off of the Moon when they were little.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Chandrayaan 2 is heading to the Moon. In the meanwhile, the space organisation is asking Indians to share their favorite childhood moon stories.

The influence of the Moon on India isn’t lost with its references in the many Bollywood songs and bedtime stories that mothers and grandmothers tell their babies to put them to bed.


Moon and its secrets

ISRO and other space agencies may have started to uncover a lot of the Moon’s secrets but there’s a lot that’s still unknown. That’s one of the reasons that everyone wants a piece of the Moon from India’s Chandrayaan 2 to US’ Artemis mission pegged to launch in 2024.

Even so, users of Twitter are reminiscing over how they used to fondly call the Moon Chanda Mama (Uncle Moon) when they were kids and how they used to dream of fishing while sitting on the edge of a Crescent Moon.

Nonetheless, the Moon has played an important part in human history. It is represented in cave paintings from 15,000 years back and in literature, the moon has the power to turn humans into werewolves. Not to mention the mysterious blood moon which bring spirits to earth.

Twitter user @A_for_Shreya reminises how she observed the ‘Schumacher Levy’ as a kid but for scolded by her grandfather for ‘telling bad things’.


Other users recalled memories of their mothers fasting on Karva Chauth, a one-day fast that women keep as per the Hindu calendar for their husbands and only eat once they have seen the full Moon at night.

Some even looked for shapes and movements on the Moon — like a jumping rabbit or the ‘Man on the Moon’.

And then there are those who simply choose to thank the Moon for its light during power cuts, and the Moon was the only guiding light.

It’s been 14 days since ISRO launched Chandrayaan 2 into orbit after a delayed take off due to a ‘technical snag’. Successfully landing on the Moon’s South Pole during the first week of September will make India the first country to land on one of the most cratered regions of the lunar surface.

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