Forty years after Rakesh Sharma told Indira Gandhi that India looked "Saare Jahaan Se Accha" from space, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, fresh from a 286-day mission aboard the International Space Station, echoed similar emotion.

"Amazing, just amazing," she said. "India is amazing. Every time we went over the Himalayas, Butch (Wilmore, fellow astronaut) got incredible pictures, it is just amazing."

Separated by decades, two astronauts—one an IAF pilot on a Soviet mission, the other a NASA veteran gazed down at India and found it breathtaking.

India from above

In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space aboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 spacecraft. In a joint televised news conference with officials in Moscow, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked him:

"Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai aapko?" (How does India look from space?)

Sharma’s poetic response—"Saare Jahaan Se Accha"—was more than an observation; it was a moment of national pride. A phrase borrowed from Allama Iqbal’s legendary poem written during British colonial rule.

Fast forward to 2025, Williams, an American astronaut of Indian descent, looked down at the same land, now with a NASA-trained eye. Her words were not of nostalgia but of pure wonder:

"And you can see, like I've described it before, just like this ripple that happened, obviously when the plates collided, and then as it flows down into India. It's many, many colours."

For her, the Himalayas, India’s natural crown stood out the most.

'A personal connection to the land below'

Sunita Williams laughs with relatives as she leaves the Operations and Checkout building before heading to Space Launch Complex 41. PTI.

Williams’ bond with India goes beyond admiration from orbit. It’s personal.

The daughter of an Indian father, she has long expressed her deep-rooted connection to the country. Now back on Earth, she is eager to return.

"I hope, and I think for sure, I'm gonna be going back to my father's home country and visiting with people and getting excited about the first, or not the first, but the Indian national who's going up on the Axiom Mission coming up, pretty awesome," she said.

Returning to Earth after nearly nine months in space, Williams and her fellow Crew-9 astronauts—Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov—splashed down off the coast of Florida in a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged their journey, posting:

"Welcome back, Crew-9! The Earth missed you."

As Wilmore playfully asked if Williams would take her crew to India, she laughed and replied: "Absolutely. You might stick out a little bit but that's okay. We'll get you all primed with some spicy food, will be good."