Faridabad girl shares stage with PM, IT icon

Mansi Bhatia, a cute seven-year-old girl from Faridabad, was briefly the cynosure of all eyes at the prime minister's residence at 7, Race Course Road on Monday evening after she figured on the jacket of a book authored by IT icon N R Narayana Murthy.

Mansi Bhatia, a cute seven-year-old girl from Faridabad, was briefly the cynosure of all eyes at the prime minister's residence at 7, Race Course Road on Monday evening after she figured on the jacket of a book authored by IT icon N R Narayana Murthy.

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Mansi, a class 2 student, was not only invited for the function with her parents, but was introduced to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he released the book "A Better India, A Better World" (Penguin Books-India).

A shy Mansi first shook hands with the prime minister, who put his arm around her as photographers clicked away furiously. Then, much to the delight of the select audience, including many diplomats, at the Panchvati, the wood-panelled hall where such functions are held, Mansi seated herself on the chair besides the prime minister and Narayana Murthy on the stage, enjoying every moment in the spotlight, as her parents beamed.

According to the publishers, Mansi featured on the cover of the book because Narayana Murthy felt that since much of his book is devoted to young India, it would be nice to have a little girl feature on the book jacket, asking a question in class, as "she is a citizen of tomorrow and represents its power and innocence".