She came to see her son salute the President,returned a ‘VIP’

A resident of Aligarh,Devi’s younger son had not allowed her to travel owing to her ill health. “I barely venture out of bed at home. Though I have been asking my younger son and his wife to bring me here for the last twenty years,they felt the journey would be too arduous for me,” she says. This Republic Day,her younger son brought her to the Capital to see the parade and Gauta,whom Devi did not meet for the last three years as he has been posted in Tripura.

“I was determined to see my son on duty. This time,nothing could stop me,” she says.

The mother-son duo arrived in Delhi late on Tuesday night,but they were at Rajpath sharp at 7 am. “I did not even carry water,though it is tough for me. My son told me water was not allowed,so I drank an entire bottle before coming,” she says proudly.

At the parade site,however,they realised that Devi had forgotten the entry passes in Aligarh.

“It was very disappointing. Her memory has been failing her lately,but this was too much. We could not even contact Gautam as his phone was switched off. The officers obviously did not let us enter without a pass,” says her younger son.

But not ready to give up,Devi convinced her younger son to take her to Red Fort as Gauta had often told her that the march ended at the monument.

“I was waiting for my son’s contingent an hour before he came. He looked so magnificent — he has done his father proud,” gushes the octogenarian,breaking into a toothless smile.

“It was a great surprise for him. He screamed with happiness and seeing him,his fellow contingent members also laughed and came running to me. Suddenly,they all lifted me in the air,” she laughs.

As she heads back home,the contented mother only has one thing on her mind: “I must tell all my neighbours about this. I will be the local hero in my village,” she chuckles. “I only wanted to see my son march,but here I got VIP status.”