Anand Mahindra remembers meeting Sunita Williams three years ago, cracks 'Uber' joke

After Sunita Willims’ return to earth, business tycoon Anand Mahindra also welcomed the NASA astronaut and commander of the ISS in a warm note on Wednesday. Along with the note the 69-year-old chairman of the Mahindra Group reminisced his time with her when he last met her two years back. “When the SpaceX recue mission was launched, I recalled this chance encounter almost two years ago with @Astro_Suni in Washington. It was an enormous relief to see her and her colleagues’ successful splashdown back on earth a few hours ago,” Mahindra wrote.  

How Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra met Sunita Williams 

Anand Mahindra’s meeting with Sunita Williams was a chance meeting in Washington DC in 2023 when he was on a US visit for the India-US Hi-Tech Handshake event of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also part of. The throwback picture also includes Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani and tech entrepreneur Vrinda Kapoor and all of them posing with the astronaut.  

While welcoming her on Earth, Anand Mahindra lauded her courage and felt positive for her return. He wrote on X, “She is courage personified and it’s good to have her back amongst us. Swagatam, Sunita…” 

Two years ago, in 2023 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on his US visit in June, Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra and entrepreneur Vrinda Kapoor were some of the guests at the state dinner which was hosted in his honour by the then US president Joe Biden. The dinner was followed by the India-US Hi-Tech Handshake event at the White House which not only the two Indian industrialists participated in, but which also saw Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook. 

‘Washington Moment’ 

Anand Mahindra framed the moment with Sunita Willams and expressed his thoughts on X. He called it a “Washington moment”. The moment he was referring to was when he along with Mukesh Ambani and Vrinda Kapoor was in Washington waiting for an Uber cab to reach to the venue of their next official engagement after wrapping the tech handshake meeting. The three had booked an Uber after they missed the the group shuttle bus which would have taken them to their next lunch engagement.  

When the SpaceX recue mission was launched, I recalled this chance encounter almost two years ago with @Astro_Suni in Washington.

It was an enormous relief to see her and her colleagues’ successful splashdown back on earth a few hours ago.

She is courage personified and… https://t.co/E64p9YX5t3

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 19, 2025

The industrialist who is always very active on social media and express his varitable thoughts on different concepts, issues and everyday happenings spared no chance of turning the iconic moment hilarious as he joked, “We were trying to call an Uber when we ran into NASA astronaut Sunita Williams @Astro_Suni. Time for a selfie & we also asked if we could hitch a ride on her space shuttle instead of an Uber…”

Sunita Williams return to earth 

American astronaut Sunita Williams along with three crew members- Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Russian Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov-breathed fresh earthly air, touched land and finally came back home after the successful splashdown of SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The astronauts returned on earth after nine months of agony aboard the International Space Station (ISS) where they were stranded from June last year. They left the spacecraft on stretchers. The world took a sigh of relief and celebrated the return of the incredible Sunita Williams as it was a proud moment for everybody.