Fly me to the moon!

'I shall bring you the moon, my love' crooned the hero to the dove-eyed lass in a matinee flick. No sooner had I indulged being a viewer to this spectacle of a cinema I read a headline somewhere the following day that a couple had bought two acres of real estate on the moon. Yes, you read it right. Our very own shining circle that changes faces every night in different parts of this blessed planet.

People buying land space on the moon is anything but new. A few years ago there was a whole cult following around the world that wanted a piece of the 'lunar action'. And why not? Given the growing population of countries like India it is little wonder that Earth will soon run out of space. As one of my less articulate friends aptly put 'the ratio of new people coming in and old people passing out seems out of balance'. As crude and borderline rude his comment sounds it is indeed a fact. Take a city like Bangalore or Mumbai for instance. These bustling cities are anything but decreasing in size. That said no one wants to sell their property even if one were offered crores of Rupees. Not that the idea of being a 'crorepati' overnight is not enticing. It is just that the cost of getting a new place or constructing one for that matter will probably cost the person close to or in some case more than what he/she got for the old place. Not to mention the bright chance of getting a plot somewhere in the outskirts of the city where roads are still under development and getting the cable television is a challenge. Who would have thought that people would actually think twice about becoming crore-worthy rich?

It won't be long before Bangalore and Mysore are the same city, said my father once. As I guffawed away at his amusing seeming comment that day, news pieces of moon-based real estate deals suddenly feels like a strangely disturbing truth of tomorrow. What if indeed there comes a time when we will have to look for alternative land areas to set up our livelihoods or build that 'dream nest' of ours? What if indeed Earth literally becomes a no man's land where land value is so dear to the owners that no one wants to sell an inch of it. What if state based development authorities run out of spaces to develop? Wouldn't that be an ideal situation to buy a fragment of the gravity free space on the lunar surface? After, unlike our fortunes, Earth is a finite place isn't it?

Anyone else out there looking for a 'Lunar Agent'?

--ShaKri