US First Lady faces arclights, gets feel of "real India"

Noida, Mar 2 (UNI) Away from the political hobnobbing between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US President George Bush in the power circles of Delhi, the US First Lady Laura Bush today got a feel of the "real India" as she faced the arclights during the shoot for a television show here.

Even as Dr Singh and President Bush were signing a pathbreaking nuclear deal between India and the United States at the Hyderabad house, far away in Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Mrs Laura Bush interacted with four lovable Indian Muppets at a shoot for 'Galli Galli Sim Sim', an educational television series modelled on the international famous US TV series 'Sesame Street', at a studio at the film city here.

The shoot for 'Galli Galli Sim Sim', an Indian version of 'Sesame Street', a hugely popular puppet show in the US, featured the First Lady indulging in a game of counting and numbers with Chamki, the five-year old heroine of 'Galli Galli SIm SIm' who lives by herself on a narrow street with her friends - Aanchoo, Googly and Bhoombah.

Accompanying her on the shoot was chairperson of the Children's Film Society of India, Nafisa Ali.

Together- Mrs Bush, Ms Nafisa Ali and Chamki - they laughed, danced and indulged in play.

Bringing her face to face with the "real India", specially its world of children, were her interactions with Chamki and her friends - Aanchoo, Googly and Boombah, the characters of the show, targetted at children, having Indian nuances both in their physical appearances, as well as their personalities.

For example, 'Bhoombah', the giant, colourful lion, believes he is a descendant of one of India's many former kings and loves "Bhangra," an Indian music and dance form.

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