By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : If there were any outer space aliens out there Monday at the crack of dawn Indian time, chances are they were grooving to a song with the words “Jai Guru Deva… Om”.
The words form the beautiful refrain of a famous Beatles song, “Across the Universe”, which was beamed into outer space in a celebration of the band’s music at 0530 Indian time (midnight GMT).
Launched by the US space agency NASA, the idea came from avid Beatles fan Martin Lewis to mark the 40th anniversary of the song, which was written by the late band leader, John Lennon.
Lewis invited fans – across the world, naturally – to play the song at the same time as NASA beamed it into outer space from its satellites.
Lewis apparently hoped to convert alien life forms to The Beatles, while creating “harmonic convergence” on planet earth.
“At the moment we are sending up Morse code as a way of contacting aliens,” he said. “Maybe we should send them something a little more cheery.”
The refrain of the song, whose metaphysical lyrics were once described by Lennon as his most poetic, has the refrain: “Jai Guru Deva, Om, nothing’s gonna change my world.”
NASA said the transmission was aimed at the North Star, Polaris, which is 431 light years away from earth. The song would have travelled at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, it said.
Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney gave his congratulations.
“Amazing! Well done, NASA!” he said in a statement. “Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul.”
The song ends in a chorus of chirping birds, which would certainly have mystified any passing aliens Monday, if not turned them somewhat philosophical and meditative.