Village in India prays for safe return of astronaut | Astronaut

American astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been caught in house for 107 days and the earliest they'll return to Earth is in February. People in Williams' ancestral village in India have been praying for her safe return. BBC Gujarati's Roxy Gagdekar Chhara stories.

Residents of Jhulasan in the western Indian state of Gujarat take pleasure in the truth that Williams has a reference to their village.

The village was as soon as house to Williams' father and grandparents. The astronaut visited the village thrice – 1972, 2007 and 2013 – after profitable house missions.

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, took off for an eight-day mission on 5 June however obtained caught on the International Space Station (ISS) after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft skilled issues. They will now return to Earth in February 2025 with SpaceX.

In Jhulasan, locals maintain every day prayers for Williams' safe return, maintaining an oil lamp burning as a logo of their hopes. For her 59th birthday on Thursday, they've organised a space-themed exhibition, hoping she'll go to once more after one other profitable mission.

Jhulasan, a village of 7,000, is crammed with reminiscences of Williams' ties. A library named after her grandparents nonetheless stands, although in poor situation, as is her father Deepak Pandya's ancestral house. Pandya, a neuroscientist, died in 2020.

A faculty, which Williams' had donated funds to throughout one of her visits, has an image of her grandparents in the prayer corridor. When Williams was felicitated on the faculty in 2007, her relative Kishore Pandya obtained an opportunity to fulfill her.

“I went to her and said with my limited knowledge of English, ‘I am your brother'. She shook hands with me and said, ‘Oh! My brother!' I still cherish that moment,” he stated.

Williams' father moved to the US to pursue greater research in 1957. There, he met and married Ursuline Bonnie, and so they had Williams in 1965.

Seven years later, the household visited Jhulasan for the primary time since Deepak Pandya had left. It was a second of celebration for the village and so they gave a heat welcome to the household by taking them round in a procession.

Bharat Gajjar, 68, who used to work as a carpenter again then, recalled the occasion fondly. “I still remember a young Sunita and others riding on camels as they toured the village,” he said.

Madhu Patel is among a group of women who offer daily prayers at a local temple for Williams.

“We are proud of her achievements. Nasa and the government should do whatever they can to bring our daughter back safely,” Ms Patel stated.

While they wait for her return, her work and words continue to be a source of inspiration to many. Manthan Leuva, who is studying for a banking exam, recalls one of Williams' speeches.

“She stated ‘love what you do and you're going to get success'. I discover that thought deeply inspiring,” he stated.