Painter

'Mom, no one from my friend circle is choosing engineering. Only I am the one,' argued Raj to his mother.

'So What? You have to make your life on your own.' And then came the most used phrase of parenting, 'If they all jump into a well, will you?' 

Raj was rendered defenseless by this argument from his mother. 

'Mom, if that 'Well' has gold at its bottom, then I will not hesitate....'

'Wake up, Raj. It is time to Land,' said Samuel, a fellow astronaut of Raj. Raj woke up from his sleep inside the sleeping pod of a space shuttle while he was revisiting a memory in his dreams.  

'Too soon. Ain't we somewhat of a couple of days ahead?' 

'Yes, Raj. Your reflector worked. They were able to provide a beam of Sun-Rays so intense that we were able to speed up a little bit,' clarified Samuel.

'How many hours did it work?'

'It went out only for 30 minutes. Otherwise, we had 10 hours of constant supply.'

'Only if I could solve that overheating surface of reflectors. How many minutes to entry?' asked Raj

'About 45 minutes,' Samuel answered.

'Contact Base and convey that I will be staying a little longer this time.'

'Okay.'

Raj took a bath with a wet towel. He took his seat in the Cabin. Raj was ready to carry on that experiment. They landed, and Raj straight away went to the lab where his team of brilliant researchers was waiting. 

'Give me the results of today's test.'

'Here it is,' Henry said after handing Raj a hand-screen which displayed results. Henry was coordinating the entire research under Raj. 

'Same pattern with no variations at all. And what about material composition?'

'That is where we made some modifications. But not visible in the results,' said Henry.

'Listen, team. Take a break. Delicacies from Mother Earth are waiting for you. Enjoy the rest of the day,' announced Raj.

Everyone went to the dining hall of the settlement. The dining hall could accommodate all of the residents of the settlement. 

The space agency constructed the settlement to accommodate 180 people. Currently, a total of 89 people were living in this settlement. 

'You not coming?'

'No, Henry. I have some work to do. You carry on,' ordered Raj.

If only Raj could speed up his research and give the world that they needed, entire humankind can find a place to live. Water and Distance from Earth were hurting the chances of humanity to exist on Mars. The research by the brilliant team of renowned scientists under the leadership of Raj was going to change that. 

Their research would give microbial life a chance to survive under the extreme conditions of mars. And then they would oversee the evolution but somewhat at a rapid pace. It was a chance that the entire world was ready to take. 

After all, Raj had proved his intellectual capabilities by shortening the traveling time to about three months. He was confident that after some more research, humanity would be able to travel to Mars in a matter of days. Raj and his team would use those same reflectors to break the ice at the surface of the north polar ice cap of Mars. 

Seeing his confidence, the public and private sector came together to forge an alliance that will help humanity to thrive on Mars as soon as possible. 

'Any luck?' asked Samuel.

'Luck is not what I am after. I want solid results that can help humankind,' clarified Raj

'Let it be for now. Everyone is waiting for you in the dining hall. They are not ready to eat without their leader.'

'Okay, let's go. Anyway, I am feeling a little dizzy.'

Raj finished eating and went straight to his bunker. In a minute or so, he was fast asleep. Dreams are strange because they tend to pick up what we miss.

'Mom, if that well has gold at its bottom, then I will not hesitate to jump a dozen times with them.'

'No Raj. You won't enjoy what you don't choose. Doing what you love does not serve any purpose in the world. After all, we are here to serve a greater cause and not to simply convert oxygen to carbon dioxide.' Raj's mother was a teacher, and she knew what the world needed. She was convincing her son to be a part of a solution that the world is facing. 

'No mom. I have a purpose and that is to paint beautiful landscapes. I am not falling for some noble cause that is over-hyped by media to sell carbon-bonds.'

'Raj. Don't speculate what you can't understand. Lives are at stakes and you are vomiting political agendas. I know you are intelligent enough to pursue a career in engineering. There are many creative artists expressing their creativity through colors. Express your intellect with erasing problems of humanity. Don't just entertain, help them.'

'I am not responsible for the global problems,' said Raj and stormed out of the room. He avoided the argument, but in his heart, the words of his mom left a striking remark. He couldn't go with his dream. His heart was confused. Three days went by, and only two days were remaining to finalize. 

'Mom, I am confused,' Raj asked his mom.

'No, you are not confused. You are just hesitating to choose what your heart wants. Remember how were you eager to learn about new machinery, read new articles, and all other stuff that excited you. Remember those while choosing...'

'Wake up. They are ready to strike the polar ice,' said Samuel.

'What time is it?'

'3.00 pm.'

'Let's go.'

It was their ninth test, and they were eager to break that ice with reflector. The space agency made the new infrastructure to maintain the atmospheric pressure for water to be in a liquid state to sustain life. 

As per calculation, polar ice started melting, and water began to accumulate inside that dorm. The team was delighted to see the efforts resulting in something fruitful. 

The happiness on their face evaporated with the reflector. The reflector failed to sustain the high temperature. The team faced failure for the ninth time. But, that failure taught the team a lesson. It indicated where and what to optimize. The team was near to success. 

They worked hard for the other two and a half months to optimize that reflector. Life was not easy during that time. The team endured for a noble cause, and their effort gave results. 

Raj was going to stay on Mars for about six months. He requested early departure because now that he had saved humanity to some extent, it was time to follow his dream. 

He got admitted into one of the prestigious art school to fulfill his other dream. Saving humankind was on the cards, but for now, he wanted to express his creativity via colors.