Indian-American astronaut, Sunita Williams, created huge splash in India being the first female astronaut to spend the longest time in space. Today, she will be coming to India to visit her native state, Gujarat, along with her family. During her 195 day stay in the space, Gujarati people held special prayers for their “daughter of the soil.” The astronaut will arrive at 10 p.m. by the plane of Indian Airlines and she will get red carpet reception.
Sunita will stay for one week and it will be quite a hectic schedule for her. IBN Live reports:
Sunita has a hectic schedule ahead of her. But she has set her priorties right. First in the list is a prayer meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram.
After the visit to Sabarmati, Sunita will pay homage at the statue of her cousin and former state home minister Haren Pandya.
On Friday, she will proceed to her ancestral home in Jhulasan. For her and her family, it’s going to be an emotional homecoming.
Sunita will also attend a felicitation program arranged by the Gujarat government and Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Vishwa Gujarati Parishad. Followed by the felicitation programs, she will attend the 58th International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad.
Last time, she visited India was in 1998. She came to thank the people of Gujarat for their prayers. The Congress Party of Gujarat found this to be a major opportunity to promote their party image. However C. K Patel, President, National Federation of Indian-American Association (NFIAA), denied such claims and said that their main goal behind arranging this homecoming for Sunita was to cement the relationship between USA and India.
Before Sunita, there was another female Indian astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, from Punjab. Unfortunately, she died in 2003 at the age of 41, in an accident after her space shuttle disintegrated while entering into the earth’s surface. Kalpana was the first female Indian astronaut. Sunita is the second Indian woman. Success of these women proved once again that women are not inferior to men. Given equal opportunity, they can perform equally well like their male counter parts.
Useful links:
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/218124.html
http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/11/two_punjabi_women_reaching_spa.html
http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/11/namira_salim_the_first_pakista.html
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/gujarat-gears-up-to-welcome-sunita-williams/48993-3.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gujarat_waits_for_Sunitas_homecoming/articleshow/2384745.cms
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14529951
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