I was keen on tuning in to an interesting set of greetings recorded in 55 languages which were sent aboard NASA’s Voyager spacecraft in 1977 and intended for extraterrestrial life forms or future human beings, all the recordings are uploaded on Soundcloud. The greetings apart, the ‘Voyager Golden Record’ contains images and other natural sounds from the Earth, besides an official statement from the then US President Jimmy Carter. Not many would fathom but this was truly a history in the making.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2, a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.[/perfectpullquote]
I hadn’t the faintest idea what those recordings were until I heard them for the first time on Soundcloud. I thought they were simply “hellos” recorded in different languages, but since I understand some Indian languages I could interpret them clearly in the manner that I grasped their meaning.
To begin with, I was surprised to hear this Hindi one-liner addressed to the unknown species of the galaxies, it could have been longer and more philosophical:
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]धरती के वासियो की ऒर से नमस्कार ।[/perfectpullquote]
“Greetings from the citizens of the Earth.”
But in Gujarati, the greeting sounds like a real message much like a conversation:
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]પૃથ્વી ઉપર વસનાર એક માનવ તરફ થી બ્રહ્માંડ ના અન્ય અવકાશ માં વસનારાઓ ને હાર્દિક અભિનંદન. આ સંદેશો મળે વળતો સંદેશો મોકલાવશો.[/perfectpullquote]
“Greetings, from a citizen of the Earth to the people of the distant galaxies. Please respond, as soon as you receive this message.”
Finally, the Marathi version sounded philosophical; more like a blessing, though I couldn’t help noting the fumble of the voice artist as well.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]नमस्कार. य्या पृथ्वीतील लोक तुम्हाला त्यांचे शुभं विचार पाठवतात आणि त्यांची ईच्छा आहे कि तुम्ही या जन्मी धन्य हो.[/perfectpullquote]
“Greetings. The people of this Earth send you their best wishes and it’s their hope that your existence is blessed.”
