Mumbai, Feb 17 (NationPress) Global superstar and Bollywood icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas was visibly moved as she spoke to students at Harvard Business School during an India Week event. The actress expressed her immense pride in witnessing an auditorium filled with young scholars adorned in sarees and kurtas, stating that she is thrilled her daughter Malti Marie has role models like them.

In her social media reflection, Priyanka shared, “This is how my day commenced. I was scheduled to deliver a fireside keynote alongside my close friend and business partner Anjula Acharia, wrapping up India week at the esteemed Harvard Business School. The discussion centered on ‘The India We Imagine’… nothing major, right? I thought, Priyanka, you can handle this.”

However, the actress admitted that seeing the audience profoundly impacted her emotions.

“As I gazed at the audience today, only one thought crossed my mind - You are the India I envisioned. Let me elaborate,” she remarked.

Speaking at the session themed “The India We Imagine,” Priyanka reflected on her own experiences as a teenager studying in the US.

She recounted her feelings of being an outsider, “When I arrived at a high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and later at Newton North High School in Massachusetts during the mid-90s, I noticed very few who resembled me.”

Priyanka also shared her joy and astonishment at seeing numerous Desi faces at an international university. She remarked that she never anticipated addressing a full auditorium at Harvard decades later. “I never thought that in my 30-something years, I would be speaking to you—the future of our culture and world—on this stage, in this iconic chamber where many leaders of the world have emerged,” she expressed.

“It made me emotional because my teenage experience was not like this. But I’m overjoyed that you have this opportunity. We owe our progress to the generations before us. I’m thrilled that my daughter will have all of you to look up to,” she continued.

Expressing her pride in seeing representation at one of the globe's top institutions, she noted, “To witness an auditorium filled with students in sarees and kurtas at HBS in Boston, Massachusetts, where I grew up… to see so many from my community at one of the best schools worldwide, made my heart swell with pride. You are the future.”

Priyanka concluded by thanking the students for their warmth and extended gratitude to her husband Nick Jonas and daughter Malti Marie, referring to them as her “forever Valentines.”

On the professional front, she is preparing for her upcoming Hollywood film “The Bluff,” where she will portray a powerful role. She is also set to star in SS Rajamouli’s eagerly awaited project, Varanasi, alongside Mahesh Babu.

–IANS