‘PM Modi the Indian Dream, Wanted to Honour Him’: Mary Millben on Touching His feet | Exclusive

American singer Mary Millben, who sang the Indian national anthem at PM Narendra Modi’s diaspora event in the United States (US) during his visit, spoke to News18 exclusively, on how her gesture of touching the prime minister’s feet was “just to let him know what a great leader he is”.

“I’m still a bit speechless to be quite honest this morning here in Washington DC. When I woke up early this morning, I kind of pinched myself and said did that really happen last night? Was I really singing on stage next to the Honourable Prime Minister Modi, who I have such admiration and respect for? And being given the opportunity to perform last night for the Prime Minister’s concluding event, I have to say, was probably one of the highlights of my career today. He is such a remarkable man, a very kind, humble man. He’s a true man of the people and you all know that being in India,” she said.

“I must certainly thank my Hindi coach, Dr. Mokshraj, who not only is my Hindi teacher, but he served as the cultural diplomat at the Embassy of India in Washington DC for years. We sat down and talked a lot about the traditions and the values of India and one of those traditions I learned about was the certainly the respect for elders. You certainly see that prominently in the films and in all the media and things like that. The values of taking care of your elders and respect to your elders,” Millben said.

‘HAVE REVERENCE AND RESPECT FOR PM MODI’

“Knowing I was going to share some time on the stage with the Prime Minister, I wanted to publicly honour him. I wanted to publicly show my appreciation for his leadership. Yeah, it was just a moment where I wanted to express to the Prime Minister and certainly to India and the Indian communities across the world, that this is a tradition, that not only Indians carry it to heart, but we all carry to heart. I learned that touching the feet of elders is touching their hearts. So when you touch elders’ feet, you’re showing reverence and respect. I have such reverence and respect for Prime Minister Modi and I was grateful to have a moment to honour him publicly,” she said.

‘INDIA LUCKY TO HAVE MODI AS PM’

Millben added that PM Modi is a symbol of the Indian dream, quite like the American dream, rising from humble beginnings to reach a stage where he is impacting the lives of others.

“He was so very kind and certainly shared words related to my performance. I just briefly shared what a great leader he is and said that to him directly and certainly his contributions to the US-India relationship have just been extraordinary. I just wanted him to know what a great leader he is,” she said, recalling their brief interaction on stage.

“The Prime Minister is truly the Indian dream. He’s the symbol of the Indian dream. We know what that means in America because we call that the American dream. When you come from such humble beginnings, and you have a journey of life that brings you to a position of life that is impacting the world. It’s such an inspiration because he really is the Indian dream, coming from such humble beginnings working his way up,” she said.

Millben went on to mention the speech by the PM at the joint session of Congress, where he mentioned how as a young person visiting Washington DC, he had stood outside the White House and now he’s standing as the Prime Minister in front of a joint Congress.

“He is so important to the US-India relationship, but he’s such an important figure to the world right now. And I just think that India is so lucky to have him as Prime Minister during this time,” she said.