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| Sunday, 19 February 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Jesse Owens : Record-breaking athlete Jesse Owens is a famous name in the world of sports. He set many world records in track and field events. James Cleveland Owens was born in 1913 in a small town in Alabama, to Henry and Emma Owens. When J.C. was eight, his parents decided to move the family to Cleveland, Ohio. They did not have much money, and J.C.'s father was hoping to find a better job. When they arrived in Cleveland, J.C. was enrolled in a public school. On his first day of class, when the teacher asked his name, she heard it as Jesse, instead of J.C. He would be called Jesse from that point on.
Cleveland was not as prosperous as Henry and Emma had hoped, and the family remained, very poor. Jesse took on different jobs in his spare time. He delivered groceries, loaded freight cars and worked in a shoe repair shop. It was during this time that Jesse discovered he enjoyed running, which would prove to be the turning point in his life. One day in gym class, the students were timed in the 60-yard dash. When Coach Charlie Riley saw the raw, yet natural talent that young Jesse had, he immediately invited him to run for the track team. At Cleveland East Technical High School, Jesse became a track star. Many colleges and universities tried to recruit Jesse; he chose to attend Ohio State University. Here Jesse met some of his fiercest competition, both on and off the track. The United States was still struggling to desegregate (segregation is where people of different races, religions etc have to stay apart without mingling with each other) in 1933, which led to many difficult experiences for Jesse. He was required to live off campus with other African-American athletes. When he travelled with the team, Jesse could either order "take-away" food or eat at "blacks-only" restaurants. Likewise, he slept in "blacks-only" hotels. On occasion, a "white" hotel would allow the black athletes to stay, but they had to use the back door, and the stairs, instead of the elevator. Because Jesse was not awarded a scholarship from the university, he continued to work part-time jobs to pay for school. At the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor on May 25, 1935, Jesse set three world records and tied a fourth, all in a span of about 45 minutes. Jesse Owens had completed a task that had never been accomplished in the history of track and field. He had set three new world records and equalled a fourth. Jesse was triumphant in the 100-metre dash, the 200-metre dash and the broad jump. He was also a key member of the 400-metre relay team that won the Gold Medal. In all, but one of these events, Jesse set Olympic records. He was the first American in the history of Olympic track and field to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest honour a civilian of the United States can receive. President Gerald R. Ford awarded him with the Medal of Freedom. Jesse overcame segregation, racism and bigotry (disagreeing with the opinions of others) to prove to the world that African-Americans belonged in the world of athletics. Several years later, on March 31, 1980, Jesse Owens,66, died in Tucson from complications due to cancer. Through all the trials, tribulations (troubles) and successes, Jesse Owens was a devoted and loving family man. He married his long time high school sweetheart, Ruth Solomon, in 1935. They had three daughters, Gloria, Beverly and Marlene. To this day, his widow Ruth and daughter Marlene operate the Jesse Owens Foundation, striving to provide financial assistance and support to deserving young individuals that otherwise would not have the opportunity to pursue their goals. Jesse would certainly be proud of their efforts. Kalpana Chawla : Woman who reached for the stars On February 1, 2003, the Columbia space shuttle STS - 107 exploded as it entered the Earth's atmosphere, killing the entire crew of six. Among them was the young Indian-born American astronaut, Kalpana Chawla. A girl who had always dreamt of the moon and the stars had herself become a star!
Not only did she achieve her dreams, but she also led her life with the highest sense of values and purpose in every respect. Her life history is the greatest inspiration for the youth of today. Kalpana Chawla was born in India's Karnal district of Haryana. Her parents had seen great hardships and were in dire straits, but had struggled to pull themselves up. However, they were able to provide a good education to Kalpana and her two siblings. In everything that Kalpana did, she broke stereotypes (conventional ideas). She was the only girl at that time to join the aeronautical engineering stream at the Punjab Engineering College. She fought and overcame opposition from her parents, and migrated to USA for further studies. Here, she joined the University of Texas to pursue her Masters, and later, University of Boulder, Colorado for her doctorate. This was admirable, since few children at such a young age are so clear-minded about their ambitions. Furthermore, even fewer have the will to pursue them with such single-minded dedication, the way Kalpana did. Kalpana's sights were so completely focused on her goals, that even her small town trappings were no barrier for her. She crossed continents and high seas, to an alien culture. She was truly a global citizen, an "earth person" who wanted to explore her neighbourhood, the outer space! From a very young age, the air and space had captured her imagination. She dreamt of flying and reaching out to the stars and planets. Her fondness for flying saw her joining the local flying club. She acquired a certified flight instructor's licence, and commercial pilot's licence, for single-and multiple-engine land and seaplanes. She also became skilled in aerobatics. Finally in 1994, her efforts paid off when, out of 2,962 applicants for a space mission, NASA chose 19 and she was one of them. Kalpana had worked hard towards it. She would say: "If you look up to the top of the mountain, then climbing it may seem an impossible task. But if you focus on the next step, and take it one step at a time, then you certainly will be able to do it." That is exactly what she did. She very dedicatedly charted out her course, stuck to the path and took it in stride, one step at a time. In 1994, Chawla began her career as an astronaut with NASA. In 1997, she went on her maiden journey in the space shuttle STS - 87 Columbia, as a mission specialist. She got mixed up in an unfortunate controversy. She was blamed for letting go of a science satellite during an experiment, that had to be retrieved later. But upon subsequent investigations, she was honourably absolved (cleared) of these charges. Then she was chosen for the second time round, for the next Columbia mission STS-107 as a flight engineer and mission specialist. In all, she logged 30 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space. For the second mission, she carried with her, CDs of her favourite artistes like Abida Parveen, Ravi Shankar and Deep Purple. She planned to autograph them in space and gift them as mementoes to these artistes. But that was not to be. Sixteen minutes short of the scheduled landing, Kalpana Chawla became one with the cosmos she so loved. In her memory, the Indian Prime Minister, A. B. Vajpayee renamed the Metstat weather satellite, launched in 2002, as Kalpana-1. Deep Purple scripted and sang 'Contact Lost' as a tribute to her. These, and many such small gestures around the world have kept her
memory alive. But the real tribute the youngsters can pay her, is to
enliven the 'Kalpanas' (imagination) in them. |
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