Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night wished former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes’ daughter, named ‘India’, on her second birthday. Rhodes, an exceptional fielder in his playing days, had named his daughter India in April 2015.
Rhodes, who is part of IPL side Mumbai Indians’ support staff, posted a picture of himself with his daughter, who turned two on Sunday. “Happy Birthday baby India; 2 today #landofyourbirth,” Rhodes tweeted.
Modi tagged Rhodes and wrote,”Happy birthday to India from India. :).”
Happy birthday to India, from India. 🙂 https://t.co/DbOZFEKLe9
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 23, 2017
Rhodes replied to Narendra Modi for the wishes
@narendramodi Thank u @narendramodi ji; baby India really has been blessed in the land of her birth, by so many amazing people #makeinindia
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) April 24, 2017
In 2015, Rhodes had said he appreciated that India has a rich mix of culture, heritage and tradition and that’s why he was naming his daughter ‘India’.
“It is a very spiritual country, very forward-thinking nation. I really like that combination. You have to have a good balance of life. With the name like India, she will have the best of both worlds and that sort of balance,” Rhodes had said.
After naming his daughter, Rhodes had in 2015 said that his wife had no issues with calling their daughter India.
“She really enjoys coming to India. She’s learnt yoga. She loves the fact that you can go from mountains to oceans… there is a lot of diversity (in India). So, we weren’t really concerned (about naming her India),” said Rhodes.
