A sari worn by Dr. Tessy Thomas, the Indian rocket scientist who led India’s first interplanetary mission, has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
The garment, a simple cotton sari with a navy blue border, was worn by Thomas during the 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) launch. The museum’s curators described it as a symbol of how women in science are often overlooked, and of the global shift in space exploration. For the working class of India, Thomas’s sari represents something more tangible: proof that a woman from a modest background in Kerala could rise to build rockets.
In the UK, where the cost of living is squeezing household budgets, this story cuts through the noise. It is a reminder that innovation and dignity are not reserved for those in suits. The sari, now behind glass in Washington, stands for a world where the price of bread and the price of ambition are both measured in human effort.
