Rakesh Sharma made history by becoming the first Indian to travel to space
On astronaut Rakesh Sharma's birthday today, a video clip of the famous conversation with former prime minister Indira Gandhi is being widely shared on Twitter. Rakesh Sharma quoting poet Iqbal's "Sare jahan se accha" from the Suyuz spacecraft was a proud moment for Indians. The astronaut spoke to Indira Gandhi from space during a joint television news conference, which also included officials in Moscow. During the conversation, Indira Gandhi had asked Mr Sharma "Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai aapko (How does India look like from space?)." Mr Sharma turned 72 today.
Birthday wishes for Mr Sharma have been pouring in on the microblogging site.
In 1984, Mr Sharma made history by becoming the first Indian to travel to space. He was part of the Soviet Union's Soyuz T-11 expedition, which was launched on April 2, the same year.
Astronaut Rakesh Sharma spent seven days, 21 hours and 40 minutes in space as part of a joint programme between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Soviet Interkosmos space programme. He was accompanied on the mission by two Russian cosmonauts, commander Yury Malyshev and flight engineer Gennady Strekalov.