Prime Minister Modi visited Shimla on Tuesday.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Shimla visit, a local BJP leader's wife recalled how he had taught her to cook the perfect 'sabu dana khichdi' when he was in charge of the party's Himachal Pradesh unit in the late 90s.
Seema Sharma, wife of local BJP leader Deepak Sharma, told PTI that it was during the Navratras in 1997 when she had cooked khichdi for Prime Minister Modi, but it did not meet his expectations. He then showed her how to cook the dish, she recalled.
During his Shimla visit on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi asked Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur about Deepak Sharma. Mr Thakur later mentioned this in his address at a rally at the Ridge Maidan.
Mr Thakur said Prime Minister Modi's connection with ordinary BJP workers of Himachal Pradesh can be gauged from the fact that he enquired whether Deepak Sharma still goes to the Jakhu temple on foot.
When contacted by news agency PTI, Mr Sharma, a nominated councillor in the Shimla municipal corporation, said his joy knew no bounds when he learnt that Prime Minister Modi remembered him and enquired about him.
He said that Narendra Modi used to frequent his eatery, Deepak Vaishav Bhojnalya, and residence located at Middle Bazaar in Shimla when he was the state BJP in-charge during 1997-98.
Mr Sharma said that he would fast during the Navratras twice a year. During the first Navratras in March, Narendra Modi would only drink water, and during the second one before Dussehera, he would eat fruits, he added.
Mr Sharma recalled that Narendra Modi was staying at the Peterhoff Hotel during the second Navratras in 1997 when he called upon his wife, Seema Sharma, to cook the khichdi for him.
Seema Sharma said since the khichdi did not meet his expectations, Prime Minister Modi called her up to speak to her and taught her how to cook the perfect 'sabu dana khichdi'.
"Since then, whenever I cook 'sabu dana khichdi', I cook it the way Modi taught me," Seema said, expressing her gratitude to the Prime Minister for remembering her husband.
Deepak Sharma said he had been visiting the famous Jakhu temple in Shimla every day for the last 32 years and Prime Minister Modi had accompanied him 10 or 12 times during his time as the state BJP chief.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)