Mumbai
His great, great, great grandmother Aria, belonged to that region and now Virgin Atlantic, the carrier Branson founded 35 years ago, has decided to place her picture on their planes connecting Mumbai and London.
“I knew that I had past generations living in India, but hadn’t realised how strong our connections were. So, it turned out that from 1793, we had four generations living here in Cuddalore and one of my great, great, great grandmothers was an Indian named Aria who was married to one of my great, great, great grandfathers,” Branson told reporters here. He said a ‘saliva test’ was done in the labs, which revealed these results.
The maverick billionaire who dabbles in many businesses, including space tourism, said the family had a very grainy picture, and have used the image of Aria as a ‘flying icon’. “Every time I meet an Indian, I say we might be relatives’,” he quipped.
Branson was in Mumbai to celebrate his airline’s new route to the city. Posting a picture from Virgin Atlantic’s ‘Business is an Adventure’ event, where he shared the stage with AnandMahindra, Branson revealed his Tamil Nadu connection.
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