Her frail, elderly father, Dr Deepak Pandya then took the mike to tell the crowd, in English, that the Sabarmati Ashram was a haunt of his youth. The calm and greatness of the place had overawed him as a young man and he would visit often and hence his wish to bring his daughter here.

Sunita was next, escorted by her cousin Falguni Pandya, who played translator. The astronaut spoke at length about the beauty of the earth from space. And about how colourful India looks from above and the crowd lapped it up, rooting for her, clapping and going ecstatic.

From Sabarmati Ashram, Sunita was rushed across town at 5 pm to Nehru Nagar to garland a statue of her cousin and slain politician Haren Pandya.

By 5 pm, it was confirmed that the city had not seen a celebrity as popular as Sunita in recent times.

Sunita climbs up to garland a statue of her cousin and slain politician Haren Pandya.