Ahmedabad’s ‘Namaste Trump’ mood attracted outsiders too

By Rajnish Singh

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Photoops were visible whole day at the front gate of Motera cricket stadium where preparations were on full swing on Sunday to host US President Donal Trump on Monday at ‘Namaste Trump’ mega event. But, it was a historic moment for Aurangabad resident Nitesh Gupta who delayed his skin treatment only to be part of it.

The 32-year-old youth has to visit Ahmedabad after every three month for the treatment of his skin disease. As he didn’t want to miss the event and also want to save his hard earned money during travel from Aurangabad to Ahmedabad, Gupta chose to delay his treatment for more months so that he can visit on the scheduled date of ‘Namaste Trump’ event.

He planned his visit to Ahmedabad months before when he knew that Trump would grace an occasion here at the under construction Motera stadium that is claimed by the government as the world’s largest cricket stadium.

A professional photographer, Gupta, who clicks pictures at wedding events, is also a cricket freak. His visit to Ahmedabad this time would fulfill his dream to be part of a mega event and to witness world’s biggest cricket stadium.

“I came here for the first time at Motera. I arrived here from Aurangabad today (Sunday) morning. Its an historic event and I had decided not to miss it. I delayed my skin treatment for some months because it would have been difficult for me to come here again by spending money to seek the occasion only. But what I can do is to delay my treatment. I use to visit Ahmedabad for my treatment every three month,” Gupta told IANS.

There were several other visitors like Gupta who visited Ahmedabad to see the mega event which is a maiden visit of Trump to India. He is accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner along with a US delegation.

Nisha Jha from Maharashtra, Ankit Vashdev from Nagpur, Harshad Parekh from Surat and Pratibha Bhatia from Himachal were among various visitors who came here with his family, especially to witness the event that is expected to be witnessed by over 1.50 lakh people at the Motera stadium – situated almost five km far from Sabarmati Ashram which is closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi and India’s freedom struggle.

In his maiden visit to India, US President will spend his first 15 minutes at “Hriday Kunj”, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed for 13 years, where he is expected to reach at around 12.30 p.m. on Monday directly from Ahmedabad International Airport before attending the “Namaste Trump” event at the Motera stadium.

Prime Minister Modi will accompany Trump to “Hriday Kunj”.

(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at [email protected])