Back from the stars, remembering roots

This along with the NASA badge is a part of the memorabilia all set to adorn the corridors of Punjab Engineering College. Kalpana has sent memorabilia from the NASA flight to her alma mater and the college is now planning to honour its famous alumnus.

A Columbia space mission badge mentioning Kalpana’s name along with the rest of the crew has also been sent to the college. College authorities have framed it and it now adorns the room of the college principal, Rajnish Parkash. The badge also has a pictorial representation of the space craft with the name `Columbia’ embossed on it.

Another picture sent by Kalpana is her own picture along with the entire crew. Decked in their space suits, all of them have autographed the picture.

According to principal Rajnish Parkash the picture is being enlarged and will be displayed in the college. He said this would inspire college students in the years to come. R.C.Gupta, of PEC mentions that four mounted posters are being prepared to be displayed at different places, one in the college corridor and the conference hall. Another poster would find a place in the Aeronautical Department and the last one will be displayed in the college library.

The memorabilia was sent to the college by Kalpana’s teacher and former Head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Prof V.S.Malhotra. Passing on the souvenirs to the college, Prof Malhotra has mentioned to the college that a relative of Kalpana should be invited to formally present these souvenirs to the college authorities.

Meanwhile, the enthusiasm generated by the space visit of Kalpana had college authorities looking for details about her stay in the college. An interesting picture which has been retrieved is that of Kalpana during her student days. The picture shows her dressed in a track suit practising with the skipping rope at the college grounds during the annual sports meet.