New Delhi:

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who is on a two-day trip to India, on Monday told NDTV that it was “unfortunate” that she “missed” the Holi celebrations in the country.

Holi, also known as the festival of colours, was celebrated on Friday, two days before Ms Gabbard, who follows Hindu tradition, arrived in India.

Asked what Holi means to her, she said it is a “wonderful and colourful” celebration of life and the “connection that we all share as people”.

“This is something from my home in Hawaii, where we greet each other with ‘Aloha’. Here in India, we greet each other with ‘Namaste’. But the deeper spiritual meaning of these two words is the same in recognizing the eternal and divine spirit that exists within all of us,” she said.

“So, at a personal level, this is very, very meaningful and also very practical,” she added.

Tulsi Gabbard’s mother, born on the US mainland, had embraced Hinduism and raised her in the tradition.

Ms Gabbard’s first name, Tulsi, is a sacred plant in Hinduism.

The 43-year-old was the first Hindu American elected to the House of Representatives. She swore her oath to enter Congress on the Hindu scripture, Bhagavad Gita.

Ms Gabbard also got married in a Hindu ceremony to a Hawaii-based cinematographer, Abraham Williams.

Last month, she was appointed as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) by US President Donald Trump.