'Janam din ki badhaai' (Happy Birthday) was the pleasant salutation, instead of the usual 'Namaskar', that greeted Deputy Chairman P J Kurien as soon as he took the Chair in the Rajya Sabha this morning.
Members cutting across party lines greeted Kurien, who turned 76 today. They shouted 'Happy Birthday' from their seats and thumped desks to greet him.
"Let me tell you a secret. ... I never celebrate this birthday... But today you turned it into a celebration. Thank you very much," he said.
A smiling Kurien then quipped that "perfect order in the House" should be his "birthday gift" today.
The birthday wishes didn't stop even after Kurien called the House to order and took up the listed business of laying of the papers.
Minister after minister greeted him on his birthday either before or after they laid the papers.
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