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Sunita Williams center of politics in Gujarat

By: Santosh :+: Under: Brown in America, Culture, Desi Ishtyle, Desi Please, It Happens Only in India, Politics, Science, Technology
On: ⋅ September 18, 2007 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment
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India loves Sunita Williams, plain and “zimble”.

“Discovery to Houston, kem cho, majama……”
img: via Hindustan Times

Some people like to point out that she is not Indian - she is only of half-Indian heritage, her mother is Slovenian, and we should not be celebrating her successes, but we @ UberDesi don’t discriminate on such superficial grounds. In fact our most popular posts to date are related to a kid of half-Indian half-Italian heritage.

We desis are well known for packing our snakes ….. errr… snacks - samosas/thaiyar chaadam/**insert desi snack** with us when we go on long trips, be it in the subcontinent or the US and A. A Gujarati-ben, albeit half, who carries with her a Bhagavad Gita, a statue of Lord Ganesh, a letter in Hindi and, above all, samosas!!! ………………… into space!!! …………… is a-ok with us.

A copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a small statue of Lord Ganesh and a letter written in Hindi by her father Deepak Pandya and some samosas in a special container will be among other things that Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams carried as she soared into space on board space shuttle Discovery toward the International Space Station that would be her new home in the stars for the next six months. Discovery with six other crew took off at 8:47:35 p.m. Saturday (7:17: 35 a.m. IST Sunday) on a column of fire that briefly dispelled the darkness over the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Uberdesi and other blogs and numerous news agencies across the subcontinent covered Sunita from the moment she embarked on her mission for the stars. Voyuerism reached new heights as Indians across the world gasped for breath as Sunita ran a marathon in space, ………

Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams achieved yet another milestone by being 210 miles above earth and circling it at least twice, running as fast as eight mph but flying more than five miles each second, as she completed the Boston Marathon on a international space station treadmill.

…. gasped in collective horror, as the mission was threatened by a wasabi spill, ……..

The spicy greenish condiment was squirted out of a tube while astronaut Sunita Williams was trying to make a pretend sushi meal with bag-packaged salmon. The three space station crew members are given a certain number of bonus packs of their favorite foods to help endure their months in space where most meals are the equivalent of military MREs.

…. rejoiced by bursting fireworks and millions of coconuts on her safe arrival, ………

From the national capital to several small towns, a large number of Indians felt a sense of relief and pride as Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams returned home safely after 195 days in space.

… and watched proudly as she MC’ed the Independence Day parade in Chicago.

Indian American astronaut Sunita Willams, who returned last month after spending six months on the International Space Station, is to attend India’s Independence Day parades in Chicago and New York.

Of course, as her popularity among the junta remains high, it is but natural for our ever vote-conscious politicians for wanting to cash in on the Sunita-mania.

It’s election time in Gujarat and so the Congress plans to ride on the popularity of Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams during her week-long visit to the state beginning September 20 during which she is scheduled to visit her father’s native village of Jhulasan in Mehsana and attend several programmes at educational institutions.

Sunita’s father is from Gujarat and related to an assassinated politician.

Vithal Pandya, her uncle, said on Tuesday that Sunita Williams would come by September 20.
“It is a personal visit because when Haren Pandya (former Gujarat minister and Vithal’s son) was killed, she was training at NASA and could not make it to the funeral. She will pay homage to Haren’s memory.”
Vithal said that during her brief visit with her father, Sunita will also visit her ancestral village Jhulasan in Mehsana district in Gujarat.

Haren Pandya, of course, was sworn rivals with current Gujarat Chief Minister and Hindu extremist, Narendra Modi.

Significantly, Williams will be escorted to the statue of her cousin and former Gujarat Home Minister, the late Haren Pandya, whose murder four years ago continues to haunt the Modi regime. Pandya was an arch rival of Modi and his relatives — as also Congressmen — have alleged a political conspiracy behind his murder.

Unable to pass up on the opportunity to crack some puns at this situation:
- Sunitaben Williams will become the center of the political universe in Gujarat.
- The world of politics in Gujarat will revolve around Sunitaben Williams.
- Modi will be blinded by the star power of Sunitaben Williams.

O’ enlightened reader of UberDesi, I ask of thee, what does thou think of Sunita’s involvement in Indian politics?
What does thou think of Sunita Williams in general - should she be considered a hero among folks of Indian origin and in India or not?
And of matters import, what does thou think of my puns? Would thee like to add to above list?

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