Ten school students who were invited to a programme and were asked to stay at arm’s length from the chief guest, the Prime Minister, actually sat next to him on a historic Metro ride.
What made them lucky? Narendra Modi himself.
“Those of you who can fit in, sit with me,” Class XI girl Aarushi Sharma quoted the Prime Minister as telling them as soon as they boarded a East-West Metro train at Esplanade.
There were no security personnel between these children and Modi and he immediately struck a chord with his young audience.
Some of the students sat beside him on either side and some in front of him.
Of the many students invited to the inauguration of the Esplanade-Howrah Maidan stretch of the Metro corridor on Wednesday, the Class XI students at MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School got an opportunity to travel with Modi.
“He is the Prime Minister of our country but he was so down to earth when he spoke to us. I will ever be grateful for this meeting,” said Aditya Karan Singh.
Once they learnt about their opportunity, some of the students said they “made mental notes” of what they would ask the Prime Minister.
Modi wanted them to ask whatever they wanted to and not what they had been prepared for.
“What have they prepared you for? I am here to talk to you all, not what you are prepared for,” a student quoted Modi as saying.
Minutes before Modi boarded the train, Metro officials briefed students about the project, the distance it covers, the number of stations on the route and the distance
the train would travel underwater.
“We had prepared a set of questions to ask him but when we sat with him, it turned out to be a spontaneous conversation between him and us,” said Arpit Ghoshal, who was sitting opposite Modi.
The Prime Minister cracked a joke, laughed with the children, and encouraged them to speak. All through they spoke in Hindi.
The Prime Minister asked them: “As students, what would you like to do for your country?”
One of the boys, Aditya, said they should work to keep their surroundings clean, and “help the poor” and donate books for them.
“You tell me what you can do? This is what we politicians have to do,” Aditya quoted the Prime Minister as saying in response.
The group broke into laughter and so did Modi.
There was many a light moment during the six-odd minutes that Modi spent with the students on Wednesday.
After that, the students made space for a group of workers to sit with Modi.
While the school students had prepared questions about the National Education Policy and the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Modi spoke to them about their everyday lives.
“You must not be cleaning your house. You definitely leave it for your mothers to do,” a student quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
He linked the Swachh Bharat campaign to the students’
role.
The Prime Minister also asked the students about the significance of Metro Railway, where they see India going in another 20 years and how they can contribute to the country as students.
“Metro service is fast and without pollution. If we were to travel in a car or bus, it would take us much longer and cost more,” Shashank Mishra told the Prime Minister.
Because of security reasons, the students had to keep their mobile phones switched off.
“There was no scope for a selfie,” a student lamented.
