Click to play videoJhulasan (Gujarat): She may have been born and raised in America, but for one village in Gujarat, she is a bigger icon than any Indian.
And for that matter, the biggest thing that the village of Jhulasan could have ever seen in its history may have probably been just camels, but Sunita Williams is changing all that.
The astronaut may not have met any of the residents who live here, but the name of Sunita ben, as she is fondly called here, is on everyone’s lips.
“I too will go to space like her. I will study hard for it,” says Khusboo Darji, a class X student of CP Gujjar High School.
While Khushboo's friends practise welcome songs for Sunita, a stage has been erected for the grand arrival outside the school.
The solitary bus stop has got a new look and the village has also got a new road now.
And Sunita's ancestral home, Saraswati Sadan has just got a fresh coat of paint too.
The students’ preparing songs and the bus stops painted to welcome Sunita, there have been unprecedented festivities all for an icon they have never met.
“The fact that she wanted to come to Jhulasan means that she loves her roots and has a lot of love for her home state,” says Shashi Mathur, a teacher of CP Gujjar High School.
“What she has done has brought out bring ambitions in our children,” says sarpanch, Jhulasan, Dinesh Patel.
But how long will Jhulasan's tryst with fame last? And what will happen once Sunita leaves?
There is no time for such sentiments in Jhulasan. For now, the people are only concerned about saying one thing, “Sunita ben, we are proud of you!”
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