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Sky is no limit

Capt. Seshadri has co-authored Sunita Williams’ biography

Photo: N. Sridharan

INSPIRED Capt. Seshadri

“It feels like I’m waiting for the return of a family member. I’ve gotten to know her so well,” exclaims Aradhika Sharma one of the co-authors of the book, “Sunita Williams: Achiever Extraordinaire”. Separated from her subject, Sunita Williams, by a distance of over 50,000 miles, it certainly can be termed a unique experience. The biography has been compiled by Chandigarh-based features’ journalist Aradhika and Chennai-based retired Army captain, Capt. Seshadri.

As Capt. Seshadri tells us, “It was only three months ago that we started researching Sunita’s life, finding it very difficult to source enough information, we knew we had to try and get in touch with her family.” Through a common friend, he managed to get the email ID of Sunita’s father Deepak Pandya, and he remembers, “A short while after mailing him we got a response — we were flooded with 50 pages of content and over 70 photographs of Sunita taking us through a journey of her life. There was no looking back from there.”

The next few days were action packed as Capt. Seshadri and Aradhika worked round the clock to ensure that the launch of the book coincided with her return from space.

The book brings out Sunita’s Indian roots. Her father Deepak Pandya, a neuronatomist, migrated to the U.S. in the mid-1960s. It also presents interesting insights and anecdotes from her life, as Capt. Seshadri says, “Few would know that Sunita actually studied to become a veterinary surgeon. In fact as the story goes, she once decided to attend an Animal Seals show only to find on arriving that it was a actually a Navy Seals one!”

This ironically turned out to be the starting point, as she began her career as a helicopter pilot with the U.S. Navy. It was during this period that she trained to join the NASA space program with her training lasting for eight years. It is here that in a short period of time she managed to break two records – the longest stay in space by a woman (194 days) and the maximum extravehicular activity by a woman, her four space walks (over 29 hours in space).

The book which contains a foreword by Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, India’s first man in space also throws light on her personal side detailing her interests including marathon running, windsurfing and her pets.

The book will be a good gift to her and her family, after her safe return.

SUDHIR SYAL

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