Ahmedabad
There is an air of expectancy and mood of elation in the family of
Vithal Pandya, whose niece, Indian American astronaut Sunita
Williams arrives in Ahmedabad Thursday to a big welcome.
Williams, who this year set a record for the longest stay in space
by a woman, will be here on a week-long visit. Government and
voluntary organisations, educational institutes and others have
planned a series of functions to welcome her.
"Sunita loves Gujarat," Pandya said, adding that the family was
looking forward to have her here and she was visiting after a
decade.
However, given the hectic schedule of public functions she would
have to attend, Williams may not find time to savour the street food
of the walled city that she relished during her last visit.
On Friday, she will attend a prayer at the historic Sabarmati Ashram
of Mahatma Gandhi and garland a statue of her cousin Haren Pandya, a
former Gujarat home minister who was murdered here in 2003.
She will then proceed to her ancestral home in Jhulasan village in
Mehsana district in north Gujarat. Later she will attend a
felicitation function by the Vishwa Gujarat Samaj, a worldwide
association of Gujaratis.
Williams will also have interactions with students at the Gujarat
University here Saturday - something she has been looking forward to
for a while.
Later in the evening, she will participate in an hour-long programme
of the Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and interact
with the state's industrialists and corporate leaders.
"We are curious to know about her achievements and how she could
accomplish them," Parul Jaykrishna of GCCI told IANS Tuesday.
Gujarat Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma will host a function in
Williams' honour at the Raj Bhawan Sunday.
Next day she will be the guest at a number of functions organised in
her honour by several voluntary organisations, though details were
not immediately available.
A visit to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) is
also on the cards, according to the institute sources.
The Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) has organised a meeting
to felicitate the astronaut Sep 25.
After wrapping up the Ahmedabad visit, she will go to Hyderabad to
attend the 58th International Astronautical Congress where she will
interact with Indian scientists and share her experience of space
journey and space walks.
Williams' visit is organised by the National Federation of
Indian-American Associations (NFIAA), a Washington-based
organisation.
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