As NASA astronaut Sunita Williams safely returned to Earth after 286 days in space, her ancestral village of Jhulasan in Gujarat erupted in celebration. Prayers, aartis, and yagnas were performed as the villagers rejoiced, welcoming home their own with the same warmth and devotion they had sent her off with.
The Crew-9 mission, initially meant to be a short test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, turned into an unexpected nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to technical failures. Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore had originally planned to spend just eight days in space, but when Starliner’s thruster malfunctions made the return journey unsafe, they were forced to stay aboard the ISS for nearly 10 months until a safe alternative was arranged.
As news of her safe splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico reached India, Jhulasan, a small village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district, came alive with festivities. Villagers gathered at the temple, lighting diyas, offering sweets, and singing bhajans in gratitude. They had spent months praying for her safe return, and their faith was finally rewarded.
Her cousin, Dinesh Rawal, had even organized a yagna in Ahmedabad seeking divine blessings for a smooth landing.
Sunita Williams has long been an inspiration in India, especially among young girls who dream of touching the stars.
(With inputs from ANI)
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