ISRO Tour Starts For 13 Northeastern Students
Thirteen bright science students from Northeast India embark on a study tour to ISRO ‘s Bengaluru headquarters under the NE-SPARKS initiative, aiming to inspire young minds through space science exposure and interaction with top scientists.
It was a scene straight out of a feel-good film — a group of 13 bright-eyed science students from the Northeast, accompanied by one rather relieved-looking coordinator (likely clutching a checklist longer than a railway timetable), took off for Bengaluru on Monday to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) headquarters. This scholarly expedition marks the launch of the North East Student Programme for Awareness, Reach and Knowledge on Space — quite the mouthful, but let’s affectionately call it NE-SPARKS, shall we?
Flagged off from Imphal’s Bir Tikendrajit International Airport by Bisheshwar Khumukcham, Additional Director of Education, Government of Manipur, the group departed amidst much fanfare, hugs, and the occasional teary eye from proud parents who couldn’t quite believe their offspring were off to rub shoulders with rocket scientists. The airport, on this particular morning, was less “departures and delays” and more “dreams taking flight”.
Now, what’s all this NE-SPARKS business about, you ask? Well, spearheaded by the North East Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) — a name that sounds like it belongs on a shiny badge or a top-secret dossier — the initiative is part of a broader outreach mission by the Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER). It aims to propel at least 100 science students from each of the eight Northeastern states into the stratosphere of scientific knowledge (metaphorically speaking, of course — no one’s launching teenagers into space just yet).
The scheme runs from April 2024 till December 2025, during which students, in carefully curated batches, will be whisked off to ISRO to hobnob with boffins, peek into laboratories where dreams (and satellites) are built, and perhaps even say things like, “Ah yes, that’s the cryogenic upper stage” with an air of casual brilliance.
One might say it’s rocket science — and for once, they’d be absolutely right.
The NE-SAC, headquartered near Shillong, has long been the quiet achiever in the field of space-based tech support for the region, dabbling in everything from natural resource management to disaster preparedness. Honestly, if the Northeast were a smartphone, NE-SAC would be the nifty operating system running it smoothly behind the scenes.
Beyond the academic hoopla, the initiative is also about exposure. Not just to shiny rockets and blinking control panels, but to the idea that science isn’t some distant, intimidating galaxy — it’s right here, waiting to be explored by curious minds from every corner of the country, be it bustling Bangalore or a remote village in Arunachal.
And as these students touch down in Bengaluru ISRO, armed with notebooks, enthusiasm, and possibly a flask of tea packed by mum, they carry with them the hopes of an entire region. If space is the final frontier, then the Northeast is certainly no backbencher in this interstellar classroom.
So here’s to the young sparks of NE-SPARKS. May your journey be illuminating, your questions be bold, and your return flights on time. And if any of you end up as the first astronaut from the Northeast — just remember who told your story first, eh?
— With reporting not from space, but close enough.
At East India Story, we’re not just about what bleeds or leads. We’re about what inspires, surprises, and reminds us all that across mountains, cultures, —there’s more that connects us than divides us.
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