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," 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.
