PM Narendra Modi writes blog dedicated to his mother on her 100th birthday

“Maa… this isn’t a mere word but it captures a range of emotions. Today, 18th June, is the day my Mother Heeraba enters her 100th year. On this special day, I have penned a few thoughts expressing joy and gratitude,” Modi said on Twitter.

Took blessings of my mother today as she enters her 100th year… pic.twitter.com/lTEVGcyzdX

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 18, 2022

He met his mother in Gujarat to greet her and sought her blessings.

“My mother is as simple as she is extraordinary. Just like all mothers,” he said in his blog post, which is available in several regional languages besides Hindi and English.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his mother Heeraba

Today, I feel extremely happy and fortunate to share that my mother Smt. Heeraba is entering her hundredth year. This is going to be her birth centenary year. If my father had been alive, he too would have celebrated his 100th birthday last week. 2022 is a special year as my mother’s centenary year is starting, and my father would have completed his,” he wrote.

“Earlier, there was no custom of celebrating birthdays in our family. However, children from the younger generations planted 100 trees to remember my father on his birthday,” the PM added.

PM Narendra Modi takes his mother Heeraba’s blessings

The prime minister noted there were only two instances when his mother accompanied him publicly.

Once, it was at a public function in Ahmedabad when she applied tilak on his forehead after he had returned from Srinagar where he had hoisted the national flag at the Lal Chowk after completing the Ekta Yatra, he said.

The second instance was when he first took oath as Gujarat chief minister in 2001.

“You might have noticed that Mother never accompanies me for any government or public programme. She has accompanied me on only two occasions in the past,” PM Modi wrote on his blog.

“Since childhood, I have noted that Mother not only respects others’ choices but also refrains from imposing her preferences. In my own case especially, she respected my decisions, never created any hurdles, and encouraged me. Since childhood, she could feel that a different mindset grew inside me,” PM Modi wrote.

Writing that his mother was particular about cleanliness, PM Modi wrote: “Mother was extremely particular that the bed should be clean and properly laid out. She would not tolerate even a speck of dust on the bed.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares a meal with his mother Heeraba

“Her focus on cleanliness is evident even today. Whenever I go to Gandhinagar to visit her, she offers me sweets with her own hands. And just like a young child’s doting mother, she takes out a napkin and wipes my face once I finish eating. She always has a napkin or small towel tucked into her saree,” he added.

Modi said a life lesson his mother taught him was that it was possible to be learned without being formally educated.

(With inputs from PTI)