Seven life-lessons for students from ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 setback

India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission didn’t go as planned. With ISRO losing contact with Vikram Lander when it was only 2.1 km altitude from the lunar surface (so close to its goal), the disappointment was writ large on scientists’ faces. Not only because the experiment didn’t yield the desired result, but also because the world was watching ISRO, the PM of the country was there and so were the future of the country – school students. The sadness was beyond measure.

Scientists will now analyse data and study what went wrong so that they are successful the next time. But ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 setback story is a lesson for students and parents who treat exams as a matter of life and death and consider the failure (rather setback in exams) as an end of life. Some students also commit suicides.

Here’re five life-lessons we learn from this experiment:

1. No success is achieved without setbacks. Setbacks are inevitable part of life. Learn from them.
2. Don’t let setbacks demotivate you. Allow yourself to grieve. It’s normal to get disappointed when you don’t get the desired results.
3. Weep if you want to. It’s absolutely humane to cry. Even ISRO chief, K Sivan cried today. It’s not a sign of weakness but an expression of sorrow that you experience deeply. It releases the pain and makes space for strength.
4. But be careful, not to weep forever. Once the grieving is over, pull your socks up. Introspect, and analyse what went wrong.
5. Be honest and open to yourself about reasons of the setback. Only then you will not repeat the error.
6. Start again with a new resolve. Work on overcoming the reasons for your setback. Work on your weaknesses, one step at a time.
7. Remember, what others describe as failure, is just a setback. Learn from it and move on. Life will reward you when you have learnt your lessons right.

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