Mauritius president visits ancestral village in Bihar

Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purayag failed to control his emotional tears when he visited Bihar's Wajidpur village, the land of his great grandfather, on Sunday.

"I am very emotional and very happy by visiting this village. My long waited wish was fulfilled to trace the village of my great grandfather, who left the village for Mauritius about 150 yeas ago. I am unable to describe the moment here to remember my great grand father," Rajkeswur Purayag said in broken Hindi at a public function in his honour by the people of Wajidpur.

Ignoring cold wave condition on Sunday, thousands of people gathered to have a glimpse of the Mauritius president, locally described as 'mati ke lal', when he along with his wife reached the village by road  from Patna.

He also recalled that how his great grandfather Prayag lived in this village. "Britishers told him and others from Bihar that there is a gold hiding inside stones in Mauritius and it was fruitful to go there. But in reality, there was no gold. All the people who went to Mauritius worked very hard and life was tough and miserable," Purayag said.

Purayag's ancestors are said to have migrated as labourers to Mauritius, then a British colony, in the 19th century.

He met his distant relatives Ganesh and Mahesh Mahto, when they were invited to the dais.

Ganesh and Mahesh Mahto gifted some soil and a bushel of freshly harvested paddy to Purayag. Besides, some villagers presented him a silver memento.

He thanked villagers and reminded them of the close relations he shared with them for generations.

President Puarayag is in India to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas diaspora meet in Kochi.