Cuttack (Odisha): On his 74th birthday on Tuesday, when a tribal woman offered the traditional Odia sweet delicacy ‘Kheer’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he remembered his late mother saying when his mother was alive, he used to visit her to seek blessings on his birthday.
“My mother showered all her blessings by giving me a mouthful of gurh (jaggery),” he said at a public address in Bhubaneswar adding that in the absence of his mother, a tribal sister in Odisha had blessed him on his birthday.
He went to Gadakan area to hand over the keys to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme. It is a practice in Odisha that during the housewarming function, the first dish to be cooked in the new house is Kheer, a mixture of rice, milk and sugar as the main ingredients.
While interacting with the beneficiaries, Modi participated in all homely rituals of the beneficiaries to celebrate the occasion. He also worshipped the deities inside the houses along with the family members.
The PM was accompanied by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Maji who also relished the delicacy.
Addressing the public, Modi mentioned the warm hospitality he received saying he will never forget the joy he witnessed in the eyes of the family members for having pucca house in their names in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha.
“While relishing the Kheer offered by my sister, it was obvious that I was recollecting my late mother,” an emotional Modi said adding that this divine feeling is the deposit of his entire life.
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