Living in India as a kid is great gift to me: Geithner

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 3 (PTI) Set to embark on his maiden
official visit to India next week, US Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner says it was a "great gift" for him to have
lived in New Delhi for five years during his childhood, where
he learnt to play cricket.
"It was a great gift to me and a great gift to any
American...to be exposed to India at an early stage," 48-year-
old Geithner told a group of Indian reporters here.
Geithner lived in India from 1968-1973 when his father
was the Deputy Resident Representative for the Ford foundation
in New Delhi.
"I went to AIS (American International School), from
second to sixth grade. I lived in Friends Colony," Geithner
said.
"I grew up with my parents friends who were people
involved in development at a time when it was a great era of
optimism and development," he said, vividly recollecting his
life in New Delhi.
The Treasury Secretary said "as a young child I was
able to see how much of India lives to not just in extreme
poverty but in a country with India's great opened dynamism
tradition is a great gift for an American."
"To watch and see how the impact America had on the
world for good and sometimes not so good is a great gift to
have as a young kid," he said.
Geithner says it is in New Delhi that he learnt to
play cricket and baseball.
"I was lucky, I learnt not just to play cricket but I
learnt to play baseball," he said. He added that he no longer
plays cricket.
After he left India in 1973, Geithner had been to
India four times – all on official or business trip.
"I have not spent very much time there and I have not
travelled extensively since then," he said. PTI