Page 32 - The Indian EYE 061325

NORTH AMERICAN Newsline JUNE 13, 2025 | The Indian Eye 32

Usha Vance terms her India visit

as a trip of a lifetime

OUR BUREAU
Washington, DC
S Second Lady Usha Vance
has recalled her visit to India
Uand her children’s experience
in India and called the meeting with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi “very
special.” She said that her children
put PM Modi in the grandfather cat-
egory, and they love him and were
hugging him when they visited his res-
idence during their visit to India.
In a conversation at the US-In-
dia Strategic Partnership Forum in
Washington, DC, on Monday (local
time), Vance called the visit to India
a “trip of lifetime for them” and add-
ed that it was her children’s first visit
to India. She also spoke about visiting
places in North India, including Taj
Mahal and enjoying Indian food.
Asked about her India visit, she
said, “It really was the trip of a life-
time for us. My children had never puppet show in India, which included of cement that personal relationship Talking about her children’s
been to India, what with the pandem- bits from Ramayana. that they have, which I think is only experience in India, Vance said, “I
ic and, JD’s entry into politics and Usha Vance said, “Meeting the to the good. And as you mentioned, think JD has probably told the story
all that. And so they’d grown up just Prime Minister, that was really very there was a puppet show. That was a at some point, but when we were at
knowing so much about this coun- special. We’d actually had a chance particular highlight with sort of pup- the Prime Minister’s residence, our
try, the stories. food, the relation- to meet him before. And it’s funny, peteering from all over the country, son was just so taken by everything
ships with grandparents and friends, my kids saw him. They were sort of including from Andhra Pradesh, and then taken by the entire cart of
but they had never actually seen it. sleep deprived in Paris and they saw where my family is from. There were mangoes that was available for him to
So it was just sort of mind-blowing an Indian man with a white beard and bits from the Ramayana. There were eat, that he announced to the Prime
from their perspective. And then for white hair, and they just put him in sort of comedic bits with animals, and Minister that he thought he could
me and JD, I think it just could not the grandfather category immediate- it was a huge hit. My kids have been maybe live there and started making
have been any more special. We had ly. They are very into him. They just trying to recreate a home of construc- his plans...And our children, they talk
the opportunity to see some of the love him. And he really cemented his tion paper, which is going about as about it all the time actually. They’ve
greatest sites in North India. We’re status by giving our five-year-old a well as you can imagine,” she added. been all over the place and they’ve
looking forward to our next trip and birthday present that day. So, when Talking about her children’s in- had wonderful opportunities to see
trying to get to the parts of the coun- we were able to visit his home, they dividual experiences, Usha Vance the world, but this was really special
try where my family is from as well. just sort of ran up. They were hugging shared that her eldest son, Ewan, was to them. Ewan, our oldest, was really
And it just was sort of one hit after him. He was just incredibly kind and particularly captivated by the temple taken by the sculptures in the tem-
another, right. The most incredible generous to them.” sculptures, while her middle child, ple that he visited. He just thought
food, the peacocks that we got to see, “I think it was very productive Vivek, was thrilled to see elephants, it was incredible craftsmanship and
everywhere we went, getting to see conversation for JD and the Prime camels, and peacocks. Her daugh- of course showed things that he was
the Taj Mahal in the morning and Minister, of course. But also, think it ter’s favorite moment was a ride in an very familiar with from stories and
appreciate it as the sun was just sort was a real opportunity for us to kind auto-rickshaw. from talking with me.”
of coming up and the cool skies and
blue skies over in the background.”
Vance recalled how her kids had
met PM Modi in Paris, and he had
given her five-year-old son a birthday
present that day. She said PM Modi
was very kind and generous to the
kids, and the talks between PM Modi
and US Vice President JD Vance
were “productive.”
She also spoke about seeing a

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