Record-setting astronaut Sunita gets rousing welcome in India

Sep 20, 2007, 7:53 GMT

New Delhi - Astronaut Sunita Williams, who set the record for the most time in space by a woman, arrived to a rousing and emotional welcome by scores of school-children, fans and relatives in her father's native state of Gujarat in India on Thursday.

The 42-year-old astronaut, considered a national icon in India, was hugged and garlanded by her relatives and friends at the airport in the state's financial capital of Ahmedabad after her arrival by a flight from London.

Born September 19, 1965 to an Indian immigrant and an American mother, Williams broke the world record for the longest stay by a woman in space, carrying out research at the International Space Station for 195 days from December 2006 to June 2007.

Williams, whose doctor father, Deepak Pandya has a hectic schedule during her week-long tour but is slated to spend most of the time with her relatives.

She begins her visit with a prayer meeting at Sabarmati Ashram, the residence of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of India's freedom struggle.

Following the visit to Sabarmati, Sunita will pay homage at the statue of her cousin and former state home minister Haren Pandya on Thursday evening.

'Sunita loves Gujarat,' Pandya told the IANS news agency, adding that the family was looking forward to meet her as she was visiting after a decade away.

On Friday, she will visit her ancestral home in Jhulasan in northern Gujarat, located about 120 kilometres from Ahmedabad.

'We are all very excited. She is basically coming here to thank the people. And Jhulasan has prayed for her through seven days. It will be an emotional homecoming for us,' her father Deepak Pandya told the CNN-IBN news channel.

Over the next five days of her India tour, the Indian-American astronaut is due to hold interactions with a number of people including school-children on her space odyssey as several schools and government and voluntary organizations have planned a series of functions to welcome her.

'We are all very excited and are preparing for the meet. If I get a chance I would like to ask her how she felt in space,' Sabarmati Ashram student Vinay Parmar told the newschannel.

Following her Ahmedabad visit, she will go to the southern Hyderabad city to attend the 58th International Astronautical Congress on September 24, where she is scheduled to address scientists and share her experience of space travel.

Williams will also be conferred an award by the Vishwa Gujarat Samaj, a worldwide association of Gujaratis.