Jimmy Carter was linked to this Gurugram village

On a cold Monday morning, a group of village elders gather at the local community hall to relive old memories. Word has spread that former US President Jimmy Carter is no more, casting a pall of gloom over this Gurugram village.

The village, Carterpuri, has been named after Carter who visited the village in 1978.

Carter was the third US President to visit India. In the days after the Emergency, the Democrat paid a visit to India and also visited Daulatpur Nasirabad village in Haryana. His mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, had been stationed there as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960s.

The village was later renamed Carterpuri in his honour.

Remembering those days, a local, who was 18 at the time, says, “Compare our village’s name with that of any other village in Haryana. We are unique as a US President visited us. We still remember it was a big day. We had security agencies coming in, the roads were repaired and places painted overnight. Many of us saw a foreigner for the first time. Women of the village gathered to see a 'gori mem' without a veil. We renamed the village after him as we thought it would see more development. Carter also sent a letter to the panchayat thanking us.”

The villagers celebrated Carter winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, and January 3, the day Carter visited the village, is observed as a local holiday. Now they intend to hold a prayer meeting in Carter’s honour.