00:00Hi, welcome to Inadu ETV Bharat. We have a really special guest with us, astronaut Sunita Williams.
00:08She's here for the Kerala Literary Festival. It's Asia's largest literary festival and you're also doing a session with children. Tell us about it.
00:17Yeah, I'm really excited. So part of the opening remarks this morning and or I'm sorry, part of the opening remarks this evening as well as, you know, a little preview of what's to come.
00:28But tomorrow is all students. So I'm excited. So there'll be a group of younger students and then a group of older students.
00:35So we can, you know, have some time for Q&A with the kids and just really get into what's exciting about space exploration right now.
00:43So you're kind of passing the baton on with your mentees and with these things you're doing with children over here and in the U.S.
00:50Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's obviously I think my retirement was out there in the news a little bit and I retired at the end of the year, actually.
00:57And just happy to do that because I know the space agencies are in, you know, good hands right now.
01:03So the younger generation has trained that we have them flying to space, getting leadership roles and just excited for them to be the ones to teach the kids who are in school about STEM, about space exploration and bring them along.
01:18So I feel really good about it. And that's that's our, you know, the biggest compliment is actually when someone can take your job and do it better.
01:25And what's your relationship with books? Did you grow up reading books? Did you read science fiction a lot? Did that get you into space?
01:31I read books, not science fiction. I'm not a huge science fiction fan, actually.
01:34I really, you know, of course, when I was a kid, I liked books about animals. I like little mystery stories and stuff.
01:40I like now historical fiction is interesting to me because it gives you another aspect of history or even just history,
01:49but more about like the people and what they were doing at a specific time.
01:54I think that's really intriguing to me. What makes a person?
01:57Which book are you reading right now?
01:58What am I reading? I got a book when I was in Slovenia. It's called Slovenology, which is really interesting.
02:05It's just about like little funny things about Slovenia if you're touring and if you're looking around.
02:11But it's about a gentleman who actually married a lady who was he's not Slovenian, married a lady who was Slovenian.
02:16So how he's breaking into that culture, which is it was fascinating to me.
02:20Oh, it's fiction.
02:21It's not fiction. It's nonfiction.
02:23It's nonfiction. Yeah.
02:23It's based on a true story.
02:25Yeah. And then I also was given a present in the last couple of months from a friend of mine.
02:32It's Sadhguru's book. So I've been reading that, but I like to like those types of books.
02:36I like to like read a little bit of it and then just think about it for a little while.
02:39So I'm not rushing through that. I think I'll miss the point if I rush through.
02:42Speaking of Sadhguru, you also believe in mindfulness. You practice mindfulness up in space also.
02:49And you also have talked about doing yoga. Did that keep you centered in those difficult, those nine months?
02:55Absolutely. I mean, I think you sort of, I think we're very lucky in space also because we get the view out the window.
03:00I mean, how centered can you be when you look at our whole planet with everybody you know, every person, every plant,
03:05every animal that's right there in front of you on that planet. So of course it keeps you centered because you obviously start to think about your place
03:13and what is really the, you know, the higher meaning. My father and I had some conversations like this at times.
03:18Sometimes, somehow here on Earth, we get a little bit distracted by all the things that are going on, not to mention your, you know,
03:24your phone and the connectivity. And so it's, I think being in space was really a luxury where you really had the opportunity to focus.
03:32And having that view out the window really made that enjoyable.
03:36You actually feel like that pale blue dot that Carl Sagan talked about?
03:40Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, when you're looking back at the planet, not only is it, you know, like our home, but it's also alive.
03:48You see the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean, you know, things that are happening,
03:54algae blooms like I've talked about before and ice formations, you know, things are happening as the seasons are going by.
04:00Hurricanes, you see them forming in the ocean or over the ocean going across.
04:05So, you know that there's a lot of activity going on.
04:08So, our planet is alive and that's what keeps us alive and it makes you really stop and think.
04:14And you've also, going through something like this, spending nine months in space,
04:20it also calls for a little bit of a sense of humor to not get too serious about things and to not lose hope.
04:29How did you maintain your curiosity and your sense of humor in those times?
04:34I mean, there is so much to learn.
04:36Every day what we do in the space station is different.
04:40So, your curiosity has already obviously peaked because, you know, the schedule, it keeps you going and wondering what's going to happen next.
04:49So, I love learning.
04:51I love that we have the opportunity to talk to the investigators for the different type of experiments.
04:57And so, in the middle of a while, you're their lab tech and you're doing something.
04:59I was like, what are we doing exactly?
05:01And, you know, they're in your ear because we have a headset on connected to them wherever they are.
05:05And they're telling you what amazing science that they're doing.
05:08And it's like, wow, I never thought of this.
05:10How did you guys think of this?
05:11I'm just the guy who's doing this stuff.
05:13But they're imagining all this kind of experiments and processes that we're doing up in space.
05:19And it's fascinating to me.
05:21You know, speaking about your past equations, Kalpana Chala was a friend also.
05:27And you spent a lot of time together.
05:29You went on hikes.
05:30And tell us a little bit about that friendship.
05:32Yeah, yeah.
05:33She was obviously, you know, somebody, as soon as I got to the astronaut office, she'd been there for a couple years.
05:38And so, I, like, sort of seeked her out.
05:40It was like, hi, how's it going?
05:41You know, fellow Indian.
05:43You know, and we became fast friends.
05:45And so, she knew that I like to hike.
05:47I like to, you know, ride bicycles.
05:50So, we used to do that quite a bit.
05:52She had a nice way of sort of slowing me down a little bit.
05:55You know, my family is very energetic and wants to get it done.
05:58And she'd be like, let's pull over over here.
06:01And she'd enlighten me to, you know, a new species of birds or something that I hadn't ever learned about or a new plant or something.
06:08And so, she was always one to provide a source of, answer a source of curiosity that I had.
06:14So, what a great, great person.
06:15And you still have a good equation with her family as well.
06:18You're still in touch with them.
06:20Yeah, not as much as I would like to, you know, obviously, because I haven't been here in a number of years into India.
06:26But they were in the United States.
06:28I spent a lot of time with them there.
06:30And then every single time that I've been here, I've tried to at least have a dialogue and see them.
06:34And I was very lucky this time to see her mom and her two sisters, at least just for a brief moment in Delhi.
06:40And we hope you keep visiting India.
06:42And we wish you a great stay at KLF and a great session as well.
06:46Absolutely.
06:47I'm excited to talk to the kids.
06:48And keep inspiring all of us.
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