DELHI – Celebrations were held across India today to honor Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 68^th birthday. PM Modi is the MP (Member of Parliament) for Varanasi. His party’s election in 2016 was the first majority party election in India since 1984. He is India’s 14^th Prime Minister.

Monday, September 17^th, actually began an entire week of activities planned specifically around the Prime Minister’s birthday. Mr. Modi has dedicated his birthday to service.

In Tamil Nadu, Chennai, and other locales, newborns were given gold rings to commemorate the special day they share with the Prime Minister. Other babies born over the past few days received special gift packs.

Another celebration included the presentation of a 1,200-pound ladoo. That’s a big ladoo. For those readers not familiar with the ladoo, it is a coveted bite-sized sweet treat typically served at special occasions as hors douvres or wedding favors.

In other locations, Union Ministers swept streets, distributed chocolates and sweets, and other items ranging from tricycles to hearing aids as gestures representative of the theme of service.

Planned activities for the week are set to culminate with PM Modi’s launch of a new healthcare plan to be made available to 500 million Indians who are currently unable to afford health insurance. We will have more information on the plan when the final version is available.

Missions Box News would like to join in wishing Prime Minister Modi a Happy Birthday by sharing, as did the Indian Express, several quotes from his past speeches to students and parents.

“When it comes to exams, be a warrior and not a worrier.”

“My parents would have celebrated even if I had been a clerk.”

“Family is the strongest support system for any child.”

“There is no recipe for success. We should never let failure to affect us, we should actually learn from it and try to improve always.”

Happy Birthday, Prime Minister!