‘Wake up, lazybones,’ Riya said, shaking Akash’s shoulder.
‘Do I have to?’ Akash complained.
‘Yes, we are going to explore the caves today, remember! Our parents have already left for their research,’ Riya explained.
Akash was 10 years old and very special to Riya and her family. Riya’s mother had told Riya that she should involve Akash in all her activities, and encourage him to do his own chores, just as she did hers, since she was a responsible and ‘grown-up’ 12 year old.
Riya and Akash had accompanied their parents, Mr and Mrs Kabir, who were both professors of archaeology, to Bhimbhetka, in Madhya Pradesh, in central India.
Akash sat up slowly and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. He got ready, with the help of Riya’s gentle nudging. Riya combed her hair into a ponytail and put a bottle of water, her notebook and pen, Akash’s sketchbook and pencils, and some fresh apples into her backpack.
Their parents had placed a healthy breakfast of oats and fruits for them on the dining table, before they had left early to meet their research interns and start their work. Riya scooped the oats into two bowls and she and Akash ate their breakfast. She helped Akash clean up the mess when he spilt some oats on the table. After they had eaten, she locked the door of their suite at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) guesthouse and they walked out and waited for the van that would take them to the site where their parents were working.
‘Riya! Akash! Here we are!’ Their parents called out to them as they arrived at the site, where many caves could be seen amidst the rocks in the arid landscape. It was a hot summer day, but a group of students who had accompanied their professors, the Kabirs, to Bhimbhetka for their fieldwork were already observing, taking measurements, photographing and documenting the site.
‘Akash, have you got your sketchbook?’ their mother, a cheerful woman with spectacles and shoulder-length black hair asked him, as the children followed the path marked out among the rocks to the nearest cave. ‘See, there are ancient paintings on the walls of this cave, of which we’ve taken photographs. You’re so good at drawing; I think you would be able to draw these in your sketchbook.’
The children followed their mother around the large rock shelter. There were paintings on the cave walls showing people dancing and hunting and also of animals and birds, like elephants, deer and a peacock.
After they saw the paintings, Riya and Akash sat quietly at one side of the site, while their parents continued their research and guided their students. Riya was busy writing what she had seen in her journal, while Akash—who like many special people had a special talent, in his case it was drawing—started sketching the paintings he had seen on the walls.
Their father came over to chat with them during a break in his work.
‘How’s your drawing coming along, Akash?’ Dr Kabir, a tall lean man wearing a blue kurta, asked him.
‘It’s happening, but I can’t show it to you yet,’ Akash replied.
‘Okay. Take your time. Show it to us when you’re ready,’ his father said smiling.
‘And you, Riya, are you taking notes of all the things you’re seeing here in the caves?’
‘Yes, papa. But I’m not sure I can describe everything. I’m not sure what some of the paintings are trying to show.’
‘Well, that’s what your mother and I are here to study too. So maybe we can compare notes later?’ her father said encouragingly.
‘Sure, papa,’ Riya replied, smiling as her father waved and returned to his research work.
                                                                     ***
Later that evening, when they were back in their suite in the guesthouse, Akash was adding some finishing touches to his sketches, while Riya was browsing the internet.
‘Hey Akash, listen to this! NASA wants to carry pictures made by children in their next spaceship that they are going to send to the edge of our Solar System. They are inviting children, up to the age of 10 to send in an original drawing showing “Communication”. NASA will carry digital versions of the five winning entries on this spaceship that they hope will be able to communicate with aliens in outer space.’
‘How will they communicate with aliens?’ asked Aakash. ‘Can they speak our language?’
‘They’ll probably use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to convert their speech into a language we can understand,’ their father replied. ‘But, hey, it’s a great idea, Akash. Why don’t you send in one of the drawings you made today? Riya can help you submit it on the NASA website.’
All four of them pored over Akash’s drawings.
‘How about this one?’ their mother said, holding up a sketch. It showed people dancing together around a fire, under the starry sky. At one side, one person was drawing the scene on a rock.
‘It shows the whole group communicating with each other, as they dance together, and it shows a man drawing the scene to preserve the memory of all of them dancing in harmony. He may not realise it but he’s recording a picture of their happy tribe for others to see, maybe thousands of years later. He’s communicating from the past with the future. Isn’t that amazing,’ said Mrs Kabir.
‘As you will be Akash, if your picture gets chosen,’ Riya said, excitedly. ‘Here, let me scan and upload it.’
‘Wait,’ Akash said. ‘It’s only a sketch. I haven’t finished shading it.’ He took the drawing back from his mother and carefully shaded in the area around the tribe to indicate the darkness of the night. With a few deft strokes he showed how the fire in the centre gave out light and warmth and lit up the faces of the tribespeople gathered around it, including the man drawing on the rock wall with the help of the campfire. ‘See, they are all happy together,’ he said.
‘As are we,’ said his mother, smiling at her children and husband.
Riya scanned the picture and helped Akash fill out the form and send in his entry for the contest.
                                                                                   ***
Two months later, a proud Kabir family received an email from NASA informing them that Akash’s picture had been chosen, along with four others from around the world, to be digitised and carried on a new spaceship going to outer space.
‘Wow! Akash,’ Riya said. ‘Your painting of a scene from thousands of years ago, is going to help humans communicate with aliens in the future. How cool is that!’
‘Super cool!’ their parents agreed, as all four of them happily embraced each other in a warm family group hug.
                                                                                   ***
This story is inspired by:
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in Madhya Pradesh. They show evidence of some of the earliest signs of human life in India. Some of the shelters had people living in them more than 100,000 years ago. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/925/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhimbetka_rock_shelters]
NASA has carried recordings of sounds, greetings and printed messages from Earth on its spacecraft as a way to sharing information about our planet and the life on it, if the spaceship happens to meet any aliens.
[https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/]