Astronaut Sunita Williams, the first woman who spent the longest time in space, arrived in Ahmedabad by an Air-India flight on Thursday. This was an emotional homecoming for her and her family members. She has a hectic schedule ahead of her and the first work she has to attend a prayer meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram.

The people of Gujarat are excited to see Sunita at her homeland. Sabarmati Ashram student Vinay Parmar said that he and the other students are very excited to meet her. She had last visited the state in 1998.

After the prayer meeting at Sabarmati, Sunita will go to pay homage at the statue of late Haren Pandya. Pandya was former state Home Minister and Sunita was his cousin. According to the report, Sunita has a plan to visit her ancestral home in Jhulasan on Friday.

Deepak Pandya said that all the family members were very excited. He said:

Sunita is basically coming here to thank the people. Jhulasan has prayed for her through seven days. It will be an emotional homecoming for us.

Sunita has the plan to stay in India for five days. Over the next five days, she will attend different programs and one interaction program with students in Ahmedabad that would be felicitated by the Governor, Chamber of Commerce and voluntary organisations.

At the same time, some of her family members have showed disappointment by saying that the state government has not done more to greet Sunita in Gujarat. Sunita’s uncle Vitthal Pandya said:

One or two people may be reluctant to respect her. It shows a negative mindset. We really don’t care.

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