NEW YORK CITY (TIP): Maura Moynihan’s admiration and love for India oozed out in her statement: ‘I would like to be born an Indian life after life”. She was speaking at the Indian Consulate here at the media India lecture series, which in 2015 has been dedicated to women and for which the Consul General coined a word, hopefully to be added to standard dictionaries of English language, WOMANITY. Maura is a daughter of the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was appointed ambassador to India in 1973. 

When Maura first went to India, she was just 13. It was love at first sight for her. She stepped off the plane in New Delhi and felt instantly at home. Her admiration and love for India grew with her years. And it was quite evident from what she said at the Indian Consulate where she spoke, April 21, on what makes India a superpower. “I was just 13 when I went to India and instantly fell in love with the country and dived into it. I was drawn to everything Indian. I’m still madly in love with India.” Her lecture was a personal journey where she described how she felt that she belonged to India for ages despite being an American

She spoke about ancient Vedic world, religion, culture, democracy and other social aspects of India that made it a super power. “Today I see seeds of India everywhere in the world”, she commented. She touched upon sensitive issues, including Indo-China relations and Dalai Lama.

To Maura, rise of the vast middle class in India makes her a real superpower. To her, a middle class Muslim boy from Delhi-“Shah Rukh Khan- who rules the world today” is a symbol of India’s super power.

Earlier, Consul General Dnyaneshwar Mulay opened the discussion announcing that the Media India series lectures in 2015 was dedicated to women to show respect towards them and recognize their pre eminent role in the world. Making He also said that “womanity” alone would rule in 2015 in the Consulate, with only women speakers being invited to deliver lectures.

A woman of many parts, Moynihan is an author, actor, fashion designer, painter and music composer who speaks fluent Hindi and Urdu as well as Tibetan and Nepali.