CHENNAI: Union minister for textiles Smriti Zubin Irani sat patiently by the side of a wayside cobbler in Perur on the outskirts of Coimbatore, got her sandal mended, and rewarded him with a hundred rupee note on Saturday.
And this warm episode was duly recorded by the BJP's youth wing and helpfully posted on social media, where the images went viral and everybody went home happy.
The cobbler P Ganesh said did not know who the lady was. "She came to get her sandal stitched. I did so and she gave me Rs 100 instead of Rs 10 because she did not have change."
The minister arrived in Coimbatore to attend a business leadership conclave at Isha in Poondi. She refused to speak to the media at the airport, probably because of the torn sandal. On the way to the venue of the conclave, she stopped at Ganesh's 'shop' near the famous Perur temple to have it mended.
Ganesh said she was indeed different from the cusom he gets normally but thought that she was a visitor to the temple. He was taken by surprise when the minister sat down next to him, making an image social media loves.
The photos and video was tweeted by Tamil Nadu BJP youth wing vice-president, S G Suryah.