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Jupiter and Beyond
Jupiter and Beyond
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I write this diary of 19th January 2060 seated aboard a large spaceship hurtling through space at 20x Light speed bound for the planet Jupiter.Jupiter as you all know is only 588 million kms from Earth.The spaceship christened "Speedstar" was built at a secluded hidden research station deep under the Himalayan mountain range.The spacecraft is equipped with all the requirements of a lonely space traveller.Robots and androids give me company. I specially am fond of Bittoo who appeared to have a mind of its own. It talks to me in Bangla and even shows me virtual Bangla movies of the 60s and 70s on a projected virtual screen.Indian classical music by maestros of yesterday and today fill the spaceship on demand just by thinking.No.. this isn't science fiction. It is a true story written in my diary.
Right now I am about a month away from Jupiters gravity and was quite busy microtuning my co-ordinates since it took quite some time for the lazybots to finetune their machines.If anyone in-charge of assembling or launching Sppedstar had made a single mistake I would arrive at some God-forsaken planet or moon whence I'd never be able to return. In any case my lifetime was too short for a return journey. Apart from eating,drinking,sleeping I took to reading fairy tales which made me happy. For the 110th time I thumbed my touchscreen reading Alice in Wonderland and thought of myself as Alice going down the rabbit hole.Being of thoughtful nature I continually thought "wasn't I all this time while on Earth falling down some rabbit hole not knowing what lay beyond.. At least this time I knew my destination... Jupiter.
While granting my Jupiter passport and considering me for the "mission" several irrelevant queries were made by the Ministry of Deep Space. One such question I have to mention for my young readers "Why do you think you should go on the trip ? What makes you think that you are special ?" In reply I said " I'll make Jupiter the best place for life to flourish happily without any negative energy intervention" Actually one of the reasons for my success was the recommendation of my family friend Dr. Lollypop who is now very very famous by writing poetry.He has become poorer but happier. Friends please note that not a single Rupee was to be paid for my trip apart from a small sum to my bereaved family in Kolkata as Space Insurance.
Jupiter now looked very very big.. almost 3 metres in diameter. Suddenly there was a scratching squeaky sound on the windshield of the large cockpit. A tiny one-seater spaceboat was scraping the heat-proof glass purposely to attract my attention.A strange human-like creature was flailing its tentacles wildly at me.The creature mentally yelled "Stop ! stop! " I pushed the yellow button for a second with my right index finger and waved back.The spaceboat pilot came alongside the Speedstar and hopped in with the tiny craft and stood calm as I closed the sliding door.
"Apni kotha theke ashchen?" [from where are you coming from] "Very strange ! An alien "talking" in Bangla !!" When I said that I was from Earth, the creature looking somewhat like "Avatar" asked me to project a model on a virtual screen which I did." What are those lines ? is your planet cracked and different coloured ?" ... "No" I replied "Those are geographical boundaries.These lines are the borders of different countries and states." The alien seemed astonished. " Shay ki!!" [what] It projected an image of Jupiter which showed a clean planet without any cracks.This made me lose myself in deep thought."We shall not allow you to enter our planet and create divisions and cracks like you have done on Earth. I shall not grant you a visa" He made a stern and serious face which made me give command for my spacecraft for returning to the same old cracked Earth. This is all I have got to tell.
Happy B'Day Bern Sir/Mate 
