- Carl Sagan, CONTACT

One book that has left a deep, possibly perpetual impact on my mind, is one of the greatest cosmic adventures of all time, Carl Sagan’s bestseller, Contact.

The book made me sit back and reflect on some of the most ambiguous, tantalizingly profound, yet, still to be unravelled mysteries that ever caught the attention of us, terrestrials.

It’s a book about life beyond boundaries, a quest for our extra-terrestrial neighbours, and a contact-between nations, governments, of science with immortality, of humans with aliens, with advancement, progress, and most of all, a contact with life.

Contact gives you an idea of the vastness and enormity of the universe. During the first few days of reading it, a sense of humility, insignificance and triviality dawns on you. Just the fact that there might be thousands and millions and trillions of species much more advanced than the human race, jam-packed in every nook of the universe, zillions of stars and their corresponding worlds, many of them possibly even brimming with intelligent life, black holes, worm holes, meteors, pulsars, quasars, asteroids and galaxies, an infinite number of light years in expanse, is enough to give you goose-bumps. Here we are, in our small, obscure planet, feuding over our rights, plugging terrorism, debating over gods, demons, religion and devotion- while the real thing is beyond our envelope of protection. Beyond the boundaries of our foggy understanding and the narrow spectrum of our view and insight. It’s all out there, waiting for us to pay a visit, for anybody to send a signal.

And then you realize, they might be much more powerful, might possess far more sophisticated knowledge and technologies and be capable of destroying our meagre planet in a split second. As we continue to exist in our secluded corner, generation after generation, trying to figure out two plus two, they might have already surpassed equations of quantum physics, ya they already know why an electron exists as a mere probability and not a fortified possibility.

What is the significance then, of a single human being, when there are so many baffling mysteries to be unearthed, or unstellarized for that matter. For one whole minute you are forced to think that relationships, failure or success hardly matter when the world and its dimensions are unfathomable for us menial beings.

Contact gives you an insight into the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), their struggle, the adversities faced, the nonchalance of the government, and the widespread religious, theological, and communal conflicts. It manages to strike a chord, with the strong opposition of male dominance in the scientific society of those times. (Based in the 1980s-90s.)The protagonist’s journey into space and her encounter with the alien beings culminates into a heart warming climax. The author describes vividly how life might exist at the centre of our galaxy, the channels of transport and communication criss-crossing through space and the advanced beings themselves. The explanation in terms of Caretakers and Builders conveys the message of how ahead of us some parts of the universe already are. Varying species of life are dispersed throughout our universe possessing the power to simulate our minds and even delude us. They are busy out there studying the cosmos, building stars and galaxies, destroying futile sectors of space and repairing portions of the universe that have suffered detriment over the past few million years. They are the Caretakers, still busy in their repair work. While still advanced beings, the Builders, who built all this for the janitors to take care of, have left, maybe never to return again.

Our galaxy stretches over an expanse of 60 million light years. If there actually is life in its centre as has been supposed, it would take us 30 million years to reach there. The life span of the sun is considered to be 10 billion years. It is believed that the sun is 5 billion years old, with an equal amount of life left. The expanse of the universe and its gigantic proportions seem impregnable. If the other beings are far more experienced and at a much higher pedestal of intelligence than us, why would they ever knock on our doors? Would we, for example ever be lured into establishing cordial relations with a
paramecium? It seems an impossible task even for our future generations to unravel all the mysteries of the universe.

Sagan explains that despite finding humans industrially, politically, economically, technologically and scientifically backward, the Caretakers acknowledge only one thing that makes us stand out. We share love. Our feelings, emotions, sentiments and love are enough to inspire even those who have attained all knowledge. It is the only thing that gives us our own identity as humans. We must cherish our relationships, our family ties and our friendships. The littlest thing that gives us joy is worth being treasured. Hostilities weaken us. Life is meant to be lived.

The universe was made on purpose, and if we look closely enough, we’d realize that no matter what we looked like, how we spoke and dressed, if we have the determination, we can disentangle the mysteries of life. You do not have to go on a space mission for that. It’s all around you, inside you, deep within all matter is a far superior intelligence that created you, the Caretakers and the Builders and continues to look after you, urging you to live life and not just exist. I am sure these thoughts will haunt me for the next couple of weeks, what I do wish for, is, that they continue to haunt me for the rest, of my life…

Contact is also a 1997 science fiction film adapted from the novel by Carl Sagan. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor Ann Arroway, Matthew McConaughey as Palmer Joss, James Woods as National Security Advisor Michael Kitz, and Tom Skerritt as Dr. David Drumlin.