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Kerala girl memorises names of Emirates Mars Mission team

Dubai - Surprised by the UAE’s achievement, the 10-year-old schoolgirl, has memorised and made a video reciting the names of the 68-member core team of the Mars mission.

The UAE’s Hope Probe is inspiring the current generation of gifted young talents to reach for the stars. Little Isra Habeeb is a case in point of the revolution initiated by the Emirates Mars Mission not just in the UAE but to far-flung places like Indian state of Kerala too.

Surprised by the UAE’s achievement, the 10-year-old schoolgirl, has memorised and made a video reciting the names of the 68-member core team of the Mars mission. And now she firmly believes that ‘nothing is impossible’.

Isra is the daughter of a former UAE resident Habeeb, who can’t stop raving about the visionary leadership and the world-class cities where he worked as a banker. While Habeeb followed the updates of Hope Probe live on February 9 from his home in Kozhikode, Isra was bowled over by the coverage in local Malayalam newspapers and news channels on the success of the mission. And soon, Isra – with an unbelievable intelligent quotient – knew her next mission.

“She wanted to memorise names of the members of the mission. It was a nice task for me. It took a few weeks, but I finally gathered the names of the key team members,” Habeeb said over the phone from Kerala.

And in a few days, Isra had memorised the names of Minister of State for Advanced Sciences Sarah Bint Yousef Al Amiri and 67 others, including mission project director Omran Sharaf, members from the project management office, spacecraft, science, operations, strategic planning and more.

“Isra has been always enthused by the developments in the UAE. She was happy to memorise all the Emirati names, especially with so many women participants,” Habeeb added.

Isra, Grade 5 student at Silver Hills Higher Secondary School in Kozhikode, has also found a role model in the UAE minister Sarah Al Amiri.

“My father keenly followed the Hope Probe’s developments and I got interested. We all prayed for its success. Once the mission was achieved, I was eager to learn the names of the crew. I am inspired by Sarah mam. I dedicate my video to the great UAE leadership and the amazing women there. I wish them more success in future milestones,” Isra said.

Last year too, Isra had recited names of all the UAE rulers across seven emirates since the 18th century, Emirati martyrs in the Operation Restoring Hope mission in Yemen and the recipients of the Order of Zayed. “I received good appreciation and applause for those video presentations.”

Since she was three years old, Isra has been memorising the names of the likes of the UN secretaries-generals, Booker Prize winners, state heads, inventors and more. She is rightly dubbed the ‘IQ princess of Kerala’.

“One day, I wish to meet the UAE rulers, if possible, of all the emirates. The success of Hope Probe has taught me one thing that nothing is impossible in life. I believe success will surely come to those who continue to try,” Isra added.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com