A Milestone Worth Celebrating

There has never been a dull moment in Mr Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial tenure. He is a man on the move, ever talking, ever targeting his rivals and keeping a sharp gaze on the popular mood. For a PM of his stature, to achieve the 100th mark for his weekly talk, is certainly a milestone to be celebrated. And Modi has done it with a rare elan.

Mr Modi’s monthly talk ‘Mann ki Baat’ (roughly translated as ‘A talk straight out of heart’) completed the hundred episode on April 30. It had commenced on October 3, 2014 , five months after Modi had assumed the highest executive office of the nation.

Relayed from the All India Radio and hundreds of other media and social media platforms on every month’s last Sunday at 11 am, it drew millions of listeners from across the nation. It was even joined by Mr Barack Obama, then United States pre sident in May 2015. Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay shared the platform on its centennial episode.

Kept strictly apolitical, ‘Mann ki Baat’ brought to light unique endeavours of common individuals from remote corners of the nation thereby transforming them into models of inspiration in a nation starkly shorn of role models. Just as Haryana’s Sunil Jaglanji’s ‘selfie with my daughter’ caught the imagination of the people, Jagadish Kunial’s greening campaign in parched dry Bundelkhand drew appreciation from myriads of souls everywhere.

Credit for all of these goes to ‘Mann ki Baat’ which elevated the efforts of humble men to the national limelight. Widely publicized towards the final week of the month, the ‘Mann ki Baat’ also lent the medium of radio a new life as millions either heard the programme alive or accessed its recorded variants on countless platforms. And doubtlessly each of its episodes came laced with novel ideas, unique models of development and sagas of individuals bringing change and making difference to lives of common men and women.

The prime minister’s words were suffused with examples of how native wisdom could be deployed to mobilize local resources and how collective energy of ordinary men could transform lives in villages either by conserving nature, enhancing shelf lives of rural products, rejuvenating rivers and lakes lying in morbid state and lending aesthetic touch to rural landscape and civic amenities. Modi employed the simplest of vocabulary, drew examples from the folk tales and referred to local heroes to drive the lesson home. His skillful oratory was his most dependable tool.

Much as one could admire the completion of 100th episode, Mr Modi’s scrupulous aversion to a press conference or interview with veterans in the mainstream media, confirms his penchant for a monologue. He is most likely to be the only prime minister who would go down the annals of history as one who did not address a press conference. It is where one would like him to make amends and silence his critics.