Rita Mudi a 19-year-old gets two marriage proposals at her doorstep after she got an autograph from PM Narendra Modi and soon after that she became a celebrity in her Salgera village in Bankura’s Ranibandh , which is 230km outside Kolkata. Rita is a second year student at the Bankura Christian College.
In an interview with leading daily over phone, she said. “That day at the hospital when the PM came to my bedside, I told him how happy I was to see him”.
On July 16, Rita along with her mother and sister travelled to Midnapore to hear Narendra Modi’s speech. They were sitting under a tent which collapsed. And soon after that they were rushed to near by hospital. PM later visited the hospital to check the victims, and there he spoke to Rita and others.
“I requested an autograph,” Rita said. “I saw him hesitate a bit. But I insisted. He then smiled and wrote, Rita Mudi tum sukhi raho (Stay well, Rita Mudi). Narendra Modi.’ The paper was provided by a person who was standing next to him,” she added.
“We started having a stream of visitors, including people who would not talk to us till the other day. We were recuperating but that didn’t stop people from coming to see the autograph. The sudden attention was slightly disconcerting,” Rita said. “I think my photograph in social media and newspapers made me famous.”
Rita’s Mother Sandhya said,“It isn’t only visitors. In the last 10 days, we received two marriage proposals for Rita. The first was from Jharkhand’s Tatanagar. They said the groom had his own business and they had no demands. They also invited us to visit their home first before we decided”.
“The second proposal was from Bankura, from Chatna. The groom owns agricultural land. Both my daughters (Rita’s sister Anita has taken admission to a general undergraduate arts course in Bankura’s Saradamani Mahila Mahavidyapith) want to study. So we didn’t show much interest.”
But before the autograph incident, family received only one marriage proposal for Rita and groom had asked for 1 lakh dowry. Rita’s father Subhas Chandra Mudi who is a farmer was not able to full fill the demand. Rita said “Marriage will happen when my parents decide but I want to study now.”