By IANS,
New Delhi: It was the first time that they had travelled on a train, seen a shopping mall, and visited a city like Delhi, but for four school girls from villages in Punjab and Rajasthan, meeting US First Lady Michelle Obama Monday was the most exciting part of their trip.
“I was a little sad that she could not visit the Golden Temple, but was very happy that I was meeting her,” thirteen-year-old Manpreet Kaur told IANS Tuesday.
Nanhi Chhaan, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), brought Manpreet and three other children to the capital as part of a group of kids who met Michelle at Delhi’s National Crafts Museum Monday.
Manpreet, who chatted with the First Lady with the help of a translator, said Michelle promised her she would visit the Golden Temple and Taj Mahal the next time she visits India.
The girls were also elated with the Nike bags filled with goodies which Michelle gifted them.
“We will now have an upper hand over the boys of our class,” said 11-year-old Apreet Buttar, from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan.
“We will tell them that we met the American leaders and they will be jealous,” she said.
Her classmate Ankita Dhukia said she was nervous about the meeting, but it went off fine.
“We had seen her on television earlier, but meeting her in person was quite different and exciting. We were a little nervous initially, but when she started talking to us, we were at ease. We have her autograph as well,” says Ankita.
Dressed in new uniforms and shoes they got for the meeting, the girls were also excited about the train ride to the capital.
“I had never travelled in a train before. Coming to Delhi by train is like a dream for me,” says Manpreet.
“We went to India Gate, and to a mall as well. I had never seen something like this. It is a totally new experience for me,” adds her friend Ramanpreet.
The girls were accompanied by Baljit Kaur, 42, Punjab’s youngest woman sarpanch.
“Meeting the wife of the man who heads the most powerful democracy in the world is an experience I shall live to tell for the rest of my life,” said an ecstatic Baljit, sarpanch of Qila Jiwan Singh village.
“Thanks to the US Embassy, these girls could meet someone like Michelle Obama. It was a great experience,” said Harpal Singh, chairman of Nanhi Chhaan.