Usha Vance recalls meeting with PM Modi ‘very special’, India visit ‘trip of lifetime’

US Second Lady Usha Vance described meeting with PM Modi as “very special”, while recalling her family's visit to India on April 21 as part of their four-day official visit. During a conversation at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington, she called the visit to India a "trip of lifetime for them".

She also mentioned travelling to various places in North India, including the Taj Mahal, and expressed her enjoyment of Indian cuisine, stating, “It really was the trip of a lifetime for us. My children had never been to India, what with the pandemic and, JD's entry into politics and all that. And so they'd grown up just knowing so much about this country, the stories. food, the relationships with grandparents and friends, but they had never actually seen it. So it was just sort of mind-blowing from their perspective. And then for me and JD, I think it just could not have been any more special.”

Watched puppet show, visited Taj Mahal and enjoyed food: Usha Vance

“We had the opportunity to see some of the greatest sites in North India. We're looking forward to our next trip and trying to get to the parts of the country where my family is from as well. And it just was sort of one hit after another, right. The most incredible food, the peacocks that we got to see, everywhere we went, getting to see the Taj Mahal in the morning and appreciate it as the sun was just sort of coming up and the cool skies and blue skies over in the background,” she mentioned.

Additionally, she shared her experience of watching a puppet show in India that featured scenes from the Ramayana. “There was a puppet show. That was a particular highlight with sort of puppeteering from all over the country, including from Andhra Pradesh, where my family is from. There were bits from the Ramayana. There were sort of comedic bits with animals, and it was a huge hit. My kids have been trying to recreate a home of construction paper, which is going about as well as you can imagine,” Usha stated.

‘Explored lawns at PM Modi’s residence'

Usha's children, Ewan, Vivek, and little Mirabel, were seen exploring the lawns and curiously observed the bird feeder, fully immersing themselves in the experience at the Prime Minister's residence. PM Modi had gifted each of them a peacock feather. A touching scene captured Mirabel Vance holding the feather while enjoying a sweet moment with her father.

Usha's daughter ‘enjoyed her time in auto rickshaw’

“Ewan, our oldest, was really taken by the sculptures in the temple that he visited. He just thought it was incredible craftsmanship and of course showed things that he was very familiar with from stories and from talking with me. And then, Vivek, our middle child, was very excited to meet elephants and peacocks and a camel and just any animal that he could kind of get his hands on. And then our daughter thinks she's sort of along for the ride. She really enjoyed her time in an auto rickshaw. That was maybe the highlight for her,” she added.

PM Modi's birthday gift to Usha's son in Paris

Usha reminisced about the time her children met Modi in Paris, recalling how he gave her five-year-old son a birthday gift that day. She described PM Modi as very kind and generous toward the children. She also noted that the discussions between PM Modi and JD Vance were “productive.”

She shared, "Meeting the Prime Minister, that was really very special. We'd actually had a chance to meet him before. And it's funny, my kids saw him. They were sort of sleep deprived in Paris and they saw an Indian man with a white beard and white hair, and they just put him in the grandfather category immediately. They are very into him. They just love him. And he really cemented his status by giving our five-year-old a birthday present that day. So, when we were able to visit his home, they just sort of ran up. They were hugging him. He was just incredibly kind and generous to them."

(With inputs from ANI)