Kolkata, April 24 -- What began as an ordinary Friday morning turned extraordinary within minutes for a city boatman, who found himself rowing none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the Hooghly river here.
Gouranga Biswas, a daily-wage boatman operating out of Prinsep Ghat, had little inkling that his routine assignment would transform into a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Within hours, he went from being an unrecognised face along the riverfront to a subject of curiosity and admiration among peers and locals.
Biswas works on boats owned by Mohammad Iftikar Ahmed, who reportedly received an urgent requisition on Friday morning from higher authorities for several boats to be made available for a VVIP visit.
"We were told that...