Regarding the Sept. 24 AP article "India joins elite club by putting spacecraft into Martian orbit": As an Indian, I'm very proud of this moment.
Also, I'm glad that The Japan Times has put up a detailed article about this historic achievement of the Mars Orbiter Mission. Accomplished within a few years and at a cost widely reported to be less than what it took to produce the 2013 Hollywood space-adventure film "Gravity," this is something to cheer about even in a land where many still live in impoverished conditions.
Several Indian scientists and their achievements have been ignored in the past. It is a big effort by the Indian Space and Research Organization to honor their souls. I hope The Japan Times continues its excellent reportage of India.
This will go a long way in dispelling the stereotypes that abound such as the cliche "Indians are good at math because they can recite multiplication tables." Well done, ISRO. And thank you, Japan Times.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.