New York Names Street After Kalpana Chawla

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Kalpana Chawla was one of the seven astronauts killed when the Columbia shuttle disintegrated in mid-air on February 1, 2003.

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, officially unveiled the Kalpana Chawla Way on Sunday at a simple but well attended ceremony including hundreds of people from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Jackson Heights area, also known as Little India, has a strong concentration of people of South Asian origin who strongly favoured the move to honour Chawla. The community has been trying for some time to get the street named after her.

The president of Jackson Heights Merchants' Association, Shiv Dass, who is of Indian origin, says that his organisation has been trying to get the street name changed since the death of Kalpana Chawla last year.

They approached City Councilwoman Helen Sears, a Democrat, who got a bill passed to this effect. "We are so proud to have the street named after our hero Kalpana Chawla, who sacrificed her life for this country. All of us from South Asia - Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis - we are all so happy to honour one of our own," Dass said.

This Jackson Heights area also serves as a major shopping centre for the South Asian community in New York and surrounding areas. It is a hub of commercial activity and also a major centre for regional cuisines from South Asia.

Kalpana Chawla was a naturalised American citizen who lived in the Houston suburb of Texas state, about 10 miles from Johnson Space Centre. She was born in the town of Karnal in Haryana in India.

After moving to the United States, she earned a master's degree and a doctorate in aeronautical engineering, and became a US citizen. In 1994, she was selected by NASA for a rigorous one-year training programme to serve as a mission specialist on board shuttle missions.

She said that that her inspiration to take up flying was JRD Tata, who flew the first mail flights in India.

Before and after her death, Kalpana Chawla's fan base was not just restricted to the South Asian community of the United States. People from all walks of life remember the astronaut's warm smile and pioneering spirit.