Senior astronaut Sunita Williams, who visited India, met the 90-year-old mother of late Kalpana Chawla in Delhi on Tuesday (January 20, 2026). This meeting between the two was very emotional and full of warmth. Both of them welcomed each other with a hug which brought back old memories.
Chawla, an Indian-born American astronaut, was one of seven crew members who died when Space Shuttle Columbia crashed in February 2003. The accident occurred when the spacecraft broke up and was destroyed during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
She was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space and her death was deeply mourned in India. Williams (60) participated in a dialogue session titled ‘Eyes on the stars, feet on the ground’ organized at the ‘American Center’ in Delhi on Tuesday.
As soon as the nearly one-hour program ended, Williams came down from the stage and walked towards Chawla’s mother Sanyogita Chawla, who was sitting in the front row of the auditorium, and hugged her warmly. During this time, Williams was dressed as her familiar astronaut.
The meeting brought back old memories and Williams expressed his desire to stay in touch before leaving. He also met Kalpana Chawla’s sister Deepa, who had come to the event with her mother. Williams is currently on a visit to India. She is scheduled to participate in the ninth edition of the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) starting from January 22. The organizers had announced this at the end of December.
Williams, a former US Navy captain, was born on September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio, USA. His father Deepak Pandya was a Gujarati and hailed from Jhulasan in Mehsana district while his mother Ursuline Boni Pandya was a Slovenian. In his inaugural address, he also said that coming to India feels like returning home, because this is the country where his father was born.
Later, Chawla’s mother said while talking to ‘PTI-Bhasha’ during the program, ‘He (Williams) is like a member of the family.’ Chawla’s mother said that after the Columbia disaster, she visited our house for three months, staying regularly from morning till night and consoling our grieving family.
He said, ‘I remember Williams and Chawla encouraging each other to move forward in their shared profession as astronauts.’ Recalling his daughter’s life, Chawla told PTI, ‘She had brought priceless treasure with her. He taught us a lot. What can we say?’
Sanyogita Chawla said that she gave full support to her daughter in fulfilling her dreams. He said, ‘She (Kalpana) often used to say – humanity is the only religion and she never took any other name. When we used to ask him, what is your religion? So she used to say – My religion is karma.
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