West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is younger than her official age.
How! The devil lay in a fake certificate, procured by her father, which put five more years to her age to help her appear in the school leaving examination.
In her recently published memoirs 'My Unforgettable Memories', the politician revealed the truth about her age, which was so far believed to be 57.
"I was not even 15 when I wrote my school final examination and would have been disqualified for being underage. So, my father gave a fictitious age and birthday to get around the problem. The result: a new birthday and five years added to my real age," writes Banerjee.
Apparently 'Didi' was born on October 5, instead of January five, as the book says that her mother had once given her a horoscope with that date mentioned in it.
Her mother used to celebrate her birthday every Ashtami (the eighth day of Durga Puja which falls in October) with a special preparation of rice pudding, she says while explaining how she has had two birthdays so far.
Even the Lok Sabha website shows January 5, 1955 as her date of birth. She had resigned as MP last year to take over as the chief minister of the state.
"To the world at large, my school certificate with its erroneous date of birth is the legally valid document," she rues in the book published by Roli Books.
When Banerjee once confronted her mother over the mistake in her official date of birth, she had replied, "Darling, we are not city-bred people. Neither you nor your elder brother was born in a hospital. Where would I get a birth certificate detailing your birthday and year?"
In her recently published memoirs 'My Unforgettable Memories', the politician revealed the truth about her age, which was so far believed to be 57.
"I was not even 15 when I wrote my school final examination and would have been disqualified for being underage. So, my father gave a fictitious age and birthday to get around the problem. The result: a new birthday and five years added to my real age," writes Banerjee.
Apparently 'Didi' was born on October 5, instead of January five, as the book says that her mother had once given her a horoscope with that date mentioned in it.
Her mother used to celebrate her birthday every Ashtami (the eighth day of Durga Puja which falls in October) with a special preparation of rice pudding, she says while explaining how she has had two birthdays so far.
Even the Lok Sabha website shows January 5, 1955 as her date of birth. She had resigned as MP last year to take over as the chief minister of the state.
"To the world at large, my school certificate with its erroneous date of birth is the legally valid document," she rues in the book published by Roli Books.
When Banerjee once confronted her mother over the mistake in her official date of birth, she had replied, "Darling, we are not city-bred people. Neither you nor your elder brother was born in a hospital. Where would I get a birth certificate detailing your birthday and year?"
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