Went out for a glimpse of Rahul,brought him home as a guest

“Rahul Gandhi stopped my mother and asked her to take him to our home. My mother tried to talk him out of it,telling him our house was far away,but he insisted on coming,” said Kavita Kamble,19. “He entered our house like he was one of us,without any air of superiority or aristocracy.”

“He asked how we managed to live in such a small place. He asked us where we work,” said Kamble. The daughter is a nurse,her mother a hospital help.

The house is not more than 50 sq metres and within this space the Kambles manage the functions of a kitchen,a living room and a bedroom. Their home for 15 years,it has a TV set,a table fan and a single plastic chair.

“We offered him the chair. Before my mother could prepare tea,some people accompanying him told him he was getting late. He drank water and tasted the sugar my mother offered,” said Kavita.

The visit was set up,unwittingly by Vikas Parche,20,when he waved at the leader’s cavalcade. Gandhi not only waved back at him but also stopped for a chat. “He asked me about myself. I told him I studied till fifth,” said Parche,who drives an auto but did not tell Gandhi that he does not have a driving licence.

Valmiki Nagar is a colony of conservancy workers predominantly belonging to the Valmiki and other Dalit communities. Gandhi interacted with several of them. “I wanted his autograph but police were not allowing me to approach him. He noticed me,signed his initials on my palm and shook hands with us,” said Sita Parche (21).

Gandhi advised Monica Piwal (16),a first year junior college arts student,to continue her studies.

Pooja Bidlani (16) was so awestruck that she volunteered a blow-by-blow recount of the entire visit.

“We have been living here for generations but never have we been visited by such an important person,” said Rajpal Parcha,whose daughters sports Gandhi’s autograph on their palms.