When 'Vaishnav Jan To' reverberated at 'Howdy, Modi!'

Houston's NRG Stadium resonated with a soulful musical rendition of an Indian-American fusion, specially created to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which will be observed on October 2 this year.

The melodious presentation of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite Bhajan- 'Vaishnav Jan To...', reverberated through the stadium as a group of Indian and American singers presented the spiritual musical ensemble.

This segment of the event also celebrated the impact of Gandhi's teachings over the American civil rights movement by recalling the thoughts of Martin Luther King junior about the Indian leader.

"The musical performance honours Gandhi and the impact of his message of non-violence on America's civil rights movement led by Dr Martin Luther King junior", the anchor for the event said in the run-up to the performance.

The ecstatic crowd at the massive football stadium at Houston thoroughly enjoyed the performance and gave it a massive round of applause.

Prior to this, Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner presented the Key to the City of Houston to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the mark of respect, solidarity and long-standing India-Houston relationship.

The Prime Minister won hearts by bowing to the crowd after he walked on to the stage to chants of "Modi! Modi!" emanating from the crowd.

Thanking the city for its warm welcome, the PM tweeted, "Thank you Houston for such amazing affection! #HowdyModi" along with a video that showed an ocean of people welcoming the leader at Houston's NRG Stadium.

The first of its kind event is being held in honour of Prime Minister Modi, who is currently on a week-long official trip to the United States to address the UN General Assembly, amongst other official engagements.