THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Twelve-year-old Siddharth is on cloud nine. Never did he imagine that a visit to Putharikandam ground would gift him a cherished memory.
The Class VI student had accompanied his father and relatives to the BJP rally on Friday, clutching a hand-drawn portrait of Narendra Modi, unaware that it would soon stop the Prime Minister mid-speech.
Midway through his address, Modi’s gaze fell on the young boy standing patiently, holding the drawing aloft. The PM paused, drawing the crowd’s attention to him.
“I have been noticing this small child standing there for a long time holding the picture. Write your address behind it and give it to me. I will write a letter to you soon,” Modi said, triggering loud cheers. He then directed the security personnel to collect the drawing.
The sudden surge of excitement left Siddharth momentarily stunned. “He faintly understood that the PM was referring to him, but the electrifying atmosphere caught him off guard,” his father Sreejith Pillai.
Modi later described the boy’s gesture as emblematic of the affection he receives from children and youngsters across the country. Referring to online trolling and reels that such moments often generate, the PM said,
“Whatever the reels may depict, my emotional bond with the people is thousand times stronger.”
A die-hard Modi fan, Siddharth had missed seeing the PM during the latter’s previous visit to the capital, despite waiting by the roadside.
“Since then, he had been adamant about meeting the PM. When we decided to attend the rally, he started working on the drawing at 9pm and finished it well past midnight,” Sreejith recalled.
Back home, the attention Siddharth received did not go down well with his younger brother Sanskrith, a UKG student, who was upset about missing the limelight. Siddharth, who studies at Christ Nagar School, Thiruvallam, has won prizes for drawing, and is training at a city-based art academy.
His mother, Reshma, is a bank employee, and the family resides at Perunthanni.
