Sense and Sensibility

Last August, India made headlines the world over for an outlandish reason. Almost half a century after Armstrong landed on the moon, India made it to its dark side, a region that is believed to have frozen water that could be a source of oxygen and fuel for future moon missions. The landing was doubly special as it came four years after the Chandrayaan-2 crash landed and more coveted as India became the first nation in the world to have landed a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) remained trending throughout the day and week as we tried to make sense of the cosmic feat. Every Indian felt that much more connected to its only natural satellite.

But then, we Indians forged a connection with the moon, much before our spacecraft got anywhere close to it. We established filial ties with it and back in the day, every child grew up calling the moon ‘Chanda mama’ or uncle! The sun we worship; the stars we gaze at. But the moon? The moon is Mother Earth’s very own. The earth’s closest space ally orbits it and therefore, whether it makes any scientific sense or not, we have long referred to it as our uncle, who loyally stands on guard, continuously circling us and watching over us.

It is hard to tell who created this family tree for us. Mythology has it that the moon is called Chanda Mama because he is the brother of Mahalakshmi and since both appear from the churning of the oceans, they are considered siblings.

While that story and other mythological tales may have their followers, it was perhaps the very popular and playful song in Asha Bhonsle’s voice, ‘Chanda mama door ke, pue pakaye boor ke’ from the 1955 film ‘Vachan’, that was sung by every other mother, grandmother and aunt to their children for years, that was responsible for reaffirming those ties. Written and composed by Ravi, this song can almost be singularly credited for our sensibilities to have imagined and accepted the moon as a family and as an uncle who lived far away but cooked for us quite lovingly.

A quick search on ‘YouTube’ will reveal that even after six decades, the song continues to be hugely popular amongst today’s parents and their children, with some of the videos posting over 611 million views. The only thing that has changed is the dressing. From a black-and-white enacted film song, it is now a fun, animated number.

By the 1970s, the status of Chanda being a mama was further upheld when a children’s magazine called ‘Chandamama’ became a household cult across the length and breadth of our country. Interestingly, by that time, America had already made it to the moon. But even that fact and the news didn’t deter us from our ties of affection and the moon continued to enjoy the status of being an uncle in thousands of Indian homes.

So, while Chandrayaan-3 is busy confirming the presence of sulphur and detecting other elements such as aluminium, calcium and titanium, perhaps our very own celestial uncle, on his part, is busy cooking up a feast for his young friends back home!

Author Supriya Newar may be reached at connect@supriyanewar.com, Instagram: @supriyanewar and Facebook: supriya.newar