PM reveals how his mother took care of a Muslim youth
NEW DELHI: Expressing his love for his mother in a blog she entered 100th year of her life on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi wrote that a mother not only gives birth to her children but also shapes their mind, their personality, and their self-confidence. Recalling the influence of his mother, the PM wrote that his mother inspired him to have a strong resolve for the welfare of the poor.
The PM said when the BJP picked him for heading Gujarat as its CM in 2001, his mother sounded more elated than ever before. She told him never to take a bribe. “I don’t understand your work in the government but I want you to never accept a bribe,” PM Modi quoted his mother.
Modi also recalled how his mother took care of a Muslim youth who was brought to his house by his father following the death of the youth’s abba. “One day my father had brought home his close friend’s son, Abbas, after the death of his father. He stayed with us and completed his studies. Mother was as affectionate and caring towards Abbas as she was for all of us siblings. Every year on Eid, she would prepare his favourite dishes,” Modi wrote.
“In my mother’s life story, I see penance, sacrifice, and contribution of India’s ‘matrishakti.’ Whenever I look at my mother and thousands of women like her, I find there is nothing that is unachievable for Indian women,” he wrote.
Describing his mother as simple and extraordinary, the PM recalled how his mother had applied ‘tilak’ on his forehead before he was to attend a public event in Ahmedabad after his return from Srinagar where party leaders had unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk. He said his mother also taught him a lesson that it is quite possible to be learned without being formally educated. Modi also noted that his mother has voted in every election, from Panchayat to Parliament, and remains abreast with current developments.