Shiv Visvanathan
May 28, 2015
Narendra Modi is a man who continues to fascinate his critics. The more we criticise him, the more he seems to grow. One looked at him first like a seasonal plant, an oddball, but now he seems to be perennial, something we talk about every day, like the weather. So, occasionally, I remove my critical spectacles and try to understand why India feels differently. I try to tune into the language, the metaphors of this great celebration.
I guess India and Indians are desperate for success. At a local level, success is caught in the idea of the exam and dread of the exam haunts our middle class. In fact, the tutorial college and the IAS study circle rose as responses to it. But the tutorial college hero is not quite a hero. We want someone who does it against all the odds. We no longer want a papa’s boy like Rahul Gandhi who sounds more like a fourth time pass. In punter terms, Mr Modi feels like a horse you can back against the world.
(2011).
