"I'm here to listen to you. I pledge you my full support," said Gandhi as she arrived in Sultandeki, a village hit badly by the quake which killed 1,300 in Indian Kashmir and over 73,000 in Pakistan and its zone of Kashmir.

Italian-born Gandhi, who led India's Congress party out of the political wilderness and back to power last year, turned 59 Friday.

She shunned celebrations at home in the capital, New Delhi, and spent the day with people who had been orphaned and widowed by the quake.

The crowd serenaded Gandhi with "Happy Birthday To You" as she arrived at a tightly guarded site in this sleepy mountainside village 110 kilometersmiles) west of the state summer capital Srinagar.

Forty-eight people were killed in Sultandeki and its 400 houses, home to about 3,000 people, were damaged or destroyed.

Looking elegant in a green traditional shalwar-kameez -- a long shirt over baggy trousers -- and shawl, she broke through her security cordon to meet people.

"She's great. She made our day," said Mohammed Kabeer, 20, who lost his parents in the quake and his house.

"I asked for generous financial assistance to rebuild my home," said Kabeer, now living in a shed with nine brothers and sisters.

"We're touched by her gesture to celebrate her birthday among us. We're honoured," said Azra Banu, 10, who lost her father in the quake and had come to meet Gandhi to ask her to rebuild their school.

"I wasn't able to talk to her. But I'm not sad. My elders told her what I wanted to say," she said.

Gandhi was accompanied by the region's new Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Indian Kashmir's leading pro-India woman politician Mehbooba Mufti.

The army and police sealed off the site of the meeting with the villagers. Those arriving at the venue were searched for arms and ammunition.

Sniffer dogs searched for explosives.

Gandhi's husband and India's former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber in an attack during an election rally in 1991.

"It's a great day for us that a great person like Sonia Gandhi came to meet us," said 14-year-old student Mohammed Liyaqat, accompanied by his two younger sisters and toddler brother.

He said he had asked Gandhi to give him a job.

"I've lost my father. I want to support my family. I need a job," he said, adding he would soon be forced to give up his studies to finance the family.

Gandhi earlier flew to Poonch, another quake-hit area, in the south and will later visit Tangdhar in the north. She heads home Saturday.

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