Bhubaneswar: On the occasion of his 74th birthday on September 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ‘Gruha Prabesha’ (entry into new houses) ceremony for PM Awas beneficiaries in the Shabara Sahi area of Gadakana village, Bhubaneswar. During the event, he was served the Odia delicacy ‘Khiri’ at a tribal household
The ‘Khiri’ was prepared by Sadhabi Naik, the daughter-in-law of Antaryami Naik, in an earthen pot. According to Odia custom, ‘Khiri’ is traditionally made during ‘Gruha Prabesha.’ Sadhabi served this sweet delicacy to Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, both of whom thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sadhabi and her family were overjoyed after PM Modi savoured the ‘Khiri’ at their home.
“All of our family members were ecstatic when PM Modi ate the ‘Khiri’ I prepared. We invited him to try it in celebration of his birthday, and he gladly accepted our request, praising us and saying that the ‘Khiri’ was very delicious,” said a delighted Sadhabi.
“He also played with my children and allowed us to take photographs with him. He asked us whether we are happy after getting a new pucca house under PM Awas Yojna or not and we expressed our pleasure,” she added.
Later, PM Modi also mentioned the incident in his speech at Janata Maidan during inauguration of Subhadra Yojana.
“Before coming here, I went to the home of a tribal family to attend their ‘Gruha Prabesh’ event. My sister in that family gave me ‘Khiri’ to eat. And when I was eating that Khiri, it was obvious that I missed my mother,” said PM Modi.
“When my mother was alive, I always used to visit her on my birthday to seek her blessings. My mother used to feed me ‘Gud’ (jaggery) by hand. She is not there anymore but my Adivasi mother fed me ‘Khiri’ and gave me birthday blessings,” he added.
PM Modi also worshipped Bhagwan Jagannath at Nayak’s home and interacted with other PM Awas beneficiaries.
