ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday celebrated his 48th wedding anniversary on board his special aircraft that was carrying him from Brazil to Cuba, cutting a cake with his wife and shyly accepting greetings of mediapersons and the crew.

When asked how it felt to be married for almost half a century, Manmohan Singh quoted the Duke of Edinburgh who had once said that the first 25 years of one's married life was normally horrible.

At this wife, Gursharan Kaur, remarked "so that period is over."

The prime minister also cut a cake in Brasilia where he was greeted by Indian ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri and his wife Lakshmi Puri.

He was travelling to Havana to attend the 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) after a three-day visit to Brazil.

Singh, 74, and his wife, have three daughters.