A glass of water, a gesture of care
PM Modi wins hearts by coming to the aid of an elderly woman in Mysuru
MYSURU: A moment of compassion amid a high-profile public event stole the spotlight in Mysuru on Friday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped forward to help a 70‑year-old woman BJP worker who suddenly felt unwell during the inauguration of the COSMOS-Mysuru Planetarium.
The woman, identified as Prema K. of Nanjangud, was on the dais when she appeared dizzy, lost her balance and seemed on the verge of collapsing. Noticing her discomfort, Modi immediately moved towards her, enquired about her health and personally offered her a glass of water.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers a glass of water to BJP worker Prema K. of Nanjangud on Friday
Setting aside the formalities of the occasion, the Prime Minister also instructed officials to ensure that she received special attention and directed his medical team to examine and monitor her condition.
The incident, captured in photographs that soon circulated widely on social media, added an unexpected human touch to the inauguration ceremony.
According to BJP Rural district president K.N. Subbanna, who later visited Prema at her residence, she was doing fine. Party sources said she had reportedly skipped lunch and walked two to three kilometres to reach the venue, leaving her exhausted.
Previous incidents
The Mysuru incident is not the first occasion on which Modi has responded to a medical emergency during a public engagement. In January 2019, while addressing a gathering at Surat airport in Gujarat, he abruptly halted his speech after noticing a cameraman, Kishan Ramolia, collapse. He immediately instructed security personnel to arrange an ambulance. Ramolia later thanked the Prime Minister, saying that Modi had noticed him falling and ensured that help reached him.
In another instance, in September 2022, Modi’s convoy stopped on the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar highway to allow an ambulance to pass. A similar gesture was witnessed in November 2022 at Chambi in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district, when his motorcade halted to give an ambulance an unobstructed passage.
These incidents have repeatedly drawn attention to the importance of prioritising human lives over protocol and security arrangements.
A gesture that resonated
The Mysuru incident also generated considerable discussion on social media, with the BJP Mahila Morcha describing it as “a helping hand, a caring heart” and praising the Prime Minister’s concern for the elderly worker. Photographs of the interaction were widely circulated.
A local BJP leader, K.N. Subbanna, subsequently confirmed that Prema was doing well after his visit to her home.
The incident offered a simple but striking reminder that sometimes a small gesture of concern can become the most memorable moment of a grand public occasion.
