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Assamese lingo from outer space

Sushanta Talukdar

Astronauts get to see 16 sunrises, sunsets in a day
Live talk organised by a non-profit organisation

Guwahati: “We have heard that you are learning Assamese in space through Assamese flashcards. “Apuni Asomiya kobo pareneki [Can you speak Assamese?],” Dhrubajyoti Das, a student of the Axam Jatiya Vidyalaya (AJV) in the city, asked NASA astronaut Edward Michael (Mike) Fincke on Wednesday.

“Moi alop Asomiya kobo paru [I can speak a little Assamese],” came the reply from Fincke, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), 350 km away from the Earth’s surface.

Fincke shared with Gitratha Kalita, another student, the unique experience of astronauts aboard the ISS — they get to see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets a day.

Rare opportunity

Seven boys and seven girls, all candidates for the High School Leaving Certificate examination, had the rare opportunity of talking live from their campus to Fincke. Students, teachers, parents, guardians and leading citizens of the State who listened to the conversation between the AJV students and the NASA astronaut and commander of Expedition 18 mission to the ISS were overjoyed that Assamese words coming from outer space.

The live talk was facilitated by the Friends of Assam and Seven Sister (FASS), a non-profit organisation. “Mike is carrying with him a special Assamese silk gamocha which he and other astronauts will autograph in the ISS and which he will carry back to the Earth,” says FASS India secretary-general Bidyananda Barkakoty.

Fincke is married to Assamese-American Renita Saikia, who also works with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

AJV rector Ranjit Narayan Deka was the first to speak to Fincke and he introduced the school to the astronaut. In the over 10-minute conversation, the students asked him: “Can you sleep normally inside the spaceship? How do you set your sleeping and waking times? How do you manage water? Do you recycle or manufacture water? How do you take a bath? Is it possible to take a shower inside the spacecraft? Can you see any manmade or natural structures on the Earth?”

And they received interesting replies. The astronauts said they recycled urine, manufactured oxygen and recycled carbon dioxide, but could not have a shower in the space station and could only wipe themselves clean with a towel. The astronauts said they could see large objects on the Earth’s surface like the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids. The momentum for the telecontact with the space station was built up by FASS official S.I. Ahmed, who coordinated with a NASA official of the space agency’s ground station in Northern California for nearly 35 minutes until the actual contact was established with Fincke.

Prior to this event, the FASS coordinated space talks at Dibrugarh University and St. Anthony’s College in Shillong.

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