Bhelupur (Bihar) - The entire Bhelupur village as well as hundreds of people from the neighbourhood gathered here for a glimpse of the 'daughter PM' when Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the first time set foot on the land of her ancestors Wednesday.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the first woman prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, looked resplendent in a bright red sari and flashed a bright smile, according to officials.
Security arrangements were tight as the helicopter carrying her landed at a specially constructed helipad near the village in Itarhi block of Buxar district, about 125 km from state capital Patna.
The moment she arrived, there was a roar of applause and cheering from the waiting crowds of thousands for the 'pradhanmantri beti' or 'daughter PM', officials said.
Persad-Bissessar has been in India to attend the 'Pravasi Bharatiya Divas' or diaspora meet in Jaipur, but did not lose the opportunity to return to her roots in Bihar.
"An upbeat, excited and smiling Kamla Persad-Bissessar was the main attraction for villagers and other people who had gathered for a glimpse of her," said Maya Devi, a local village council member said.
"She was welcomed by villagers in traditional style, with women singing folk songs and conducting rituals to mark the visit of a daughter to her village," district official Bharat Bhusan said.
"An emotional Kamla Persad-Bissessar, her eyes welling up and voice choked, told the jubilant crowd that she was lucky to visit the land of her roots and the village of her ancestors," said Nishant Verma, another district official.
Persad-Bissessar, accompanied by her husband Gregory Bissessar and a 25-member delegation, paid homage to her ancestors. "She stayed for over two and a half hours in the village. Most of the time, she was seen smiling, laughing and in a happy mood," Verma said.
"She thanked villagers and reminded them of the close relations she shared with them for generations. She recalled that other descendants of her family were still living in this village," officials said.
According to officials, villagers gifted her a chunk of its soil and a silver crown. She also planted five trees - neem, pakad, pipal, ashok and barh - near Sipariya Kali Mandir where her ancestral home was once located.
She was offered traditional Bihari dishes - 'litti chokha', 'chura' and 'tilwa'. "Villagers also presented her with a new Banarasi sari, bindi and other itmes traditionally given to a daughter when she leaves her parents' house," officials said.
According to an official record sent by the Trinidad and Tobago government to Bihar, Persad-Bissessar's great-grandfather Ram Lakhan Mishra had left Bhelupur in 1889.
A large number of people from Bihar had migrated to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad, Suriname, South Africa and other places in the 19th century to serve as indentured labourers on sugarcane and rubber plantations.
Today : Saturday - May 26, 2012, 04:11pm (GMT+5.5)
