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Prime Minister Narendra interacts with students on board the Vande Bharat Express train after flagging off from Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station | Photo: ANI
Thiruvananthapuram: Parvathy S Nair, a student of a Kenndriya Vidhyalaya school here, is yet to believe that the Prime Minister of the country stood before her and listened patiently to the Malayalam poem which she rendered and lavished praise upon her.
So was the feeling of Abhijith Pradeep, another city school student, who had a brief chat in Hindi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he had seen only on television and newspapers so far.
These children were among a group of selected school students who got a chance to interact with Modi on board Vande Bharat Express train before its flag-off from the central railway station here on Monday and became its first travellers.
"I have never ever expected this....it was not even in my dreams. He talked to each student happily and appreciated their work," Nair said with brimming excitement.
"We are chilling on board Vande Bharat now. It provides an aeroplane-like travel experience," a thrilled Pradeep later told reporters.
They were excited, overjoyed and feeling proud about themselves because they were heard, appreciated and patted on their back with affection by none other than the Prime Minister.
As part of the flag off of the first Vande Bharat train allotted to Kerala, a number of students from various schools in the capital city were selected to interact with the Prime Minister based on the performance of their different skills including drawing, painting, recitation, poem writing and so on.
Besides them, their teachers and parents also got a chance to travel in the semi high speed train on its first journey.
"I have never thought that the Prime Minister would be this much down to earth. How nicely he has interacted with each one of us! I never felt even for a second that I was talking to the PM," an elated girl student said.
A student from Chinmaya Vidyalaya here said when he showed his painting of the Vande Bharat to Modi, the Prime Minister said he could not draw a picture like this. "I was humbled by his words. He also asked how much time I took to draw it and whether any of my family members had the skill," the boy said with a smile.
When one student said it was a dream-come-true meeting with the Prime Minister of the country, another student did not hide her excitement that she got an autograph from Modi.
The Prime Minister also shared his happiness meeting the students and tweeted that it was a "memorable interaction on board the Vande Bharat Express".
He also shared a brief but beautiful video of his interaction with Kerala school students.
Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express service, which will connect the state capital with Kasaragod, Kerala's northernmost district. PTI
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