Mother found happiness in others' joys: PM Narendra Modi's tribute to Heeraba on her 99th birthday

New Delhi, June 18

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid heartfelt tributes to his mother Heeraba and late father Damodar Modi, as both entered the centenary year of their births. In a detailed blog, the PM reminisced memories of childhood including his window-less one room house in Vadnagar, which his mother decorated with self-made artefacts and filled with love despite adversity.

Terming 2022 as a special year for him at a personal level, the prime minister said all that is good in his character can be attributed to his parents.

“Today, I feel extremely happy and fortunate to share that my mother 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,” the PM said.

Mentioning episodes from his life to bring alive his mother’s resilience, the PM said she would always find happiness in the joy of others.

Recalling one event, the PM said his mother would prepare delicacies on Eid for a friend Abbas who had lost his father. “Mother would find happiness in other people’s joys. Our house may have been small, but she was extremely large-hearted. A close friend of my father used to stay in a nearby village. After his untimely death, my father brought his friend’s son, Abbas, to our home. He stayed with us and completed his studies. Mother was as affectionate and caring towards Abbas just like she did for all of us siblings. Every year on Eid, she used to prepare his favourite dishes. On festivals, it was commonplace for neighbourhood kids to come to our house and enjoy Mother’s special preparations,” the PM said.

He remembered his humble beginnings and early lessons in cleanliness, water and food conservation Heeraba gave him.

“During the rains, our roof would leak, and the house would flood. Mother would place buckets and utensils below the leaks to collect the rainwater. Even in this adverse situation, Mother would be a symbol of resilience. You will be surprised to know that she’d use this water for the next few days. What better example than this of water conservation!” the PM said, adding that even today Heeraba does not tolerate one speck of dust on the bed.

“A slight crease meant that the bed sheet would be dusted and laid again. All of us were very careful about this. Even today, Mother expects that there should not be a single crease on her bed!” said the PM.

He also mentioned how Heeraba would counsel her children never to waste food in weddings and take only as much as they could eat.

The blog also reveals that Heeraba has accompanied the PM to public events only twice in his long political career.

“Once at a public function in Ahmedabad when she applied tilak on my forehead after I had returned from Srinagar where I had hoisted the national flag at Lal Chowk completing the Ekta Yatra.That was an extremely emotional moment for Mother because a few people had died in a terror attack in Phagwara at the time of the Ekta Yatra.

The second instance, the PM said, was when he first took oath as Gujarat’s Chief Minister in 2001.

Since two decades, the PM’s mother has never accompanied him to a single public event.