Here is Modi’s cri de coeur (cry from the heart): Give up the selfish attitude of "mera kya, mujhe kya."
A moratorium on communal violence, pitch for giving peace a chance, cleanliness is what we can give back to Mahatma Gandhi, mothers should start questioning their sons as they do their daughters, every rapist is someone’s son, toilets for all particularly in schools and for girls, poor to have bank account and credit card with insurance of Rs one lakh, MPs to develop one model village in their constituencies, call to entrepreneurs to ‘make in India’ everything that is imported, and most exhilarating was his obiter dictum that if 1.5 billion Indians takes one step forward then the nation takes 1.5 billion steps forward.
It is a pity that his critics do not appreciate the basics that Mr Modi is bringing back into the DNA of the country that has been ripped apart by violence, greed, caste and creed over most of the 68 years of Independence. India today is one of the filthiest countries and filth and dirt is responsible for
much of the sickness and diseases consuming our people. It was Gandhiji’s constant appeal and that’s why Mr Modi said that ushering in cleanliness is what we can give back to Gandhiji. Cleanliness as they say is next to godliness!
He called for building a national character which India seems to have lost. Sadly Transparency International and several other agencies place India high on the list of most corrupt countries and that’s why the Crie de Coeur, the ultimate desideratum, one may call it, of Mr Modi was the exhortation to give up the selfish attitude of "Mera Kya, Mujhe Kya."
If the country can get into cleanliness mode and each Indian asks what he can do for the country, we would be well onto the path of a glorious period which is India’s destiny. Some of the strident TV anchors just don’t get it.
Used to tackling serious issues in their debate hours, in the Neeta’s Natter filmy style, they wanted to know why he didn’t lash out at the Hindu fanatics, and there were others who cribbed that he said nothing about women’s empowerment. They are so used to clichés, cosmeticism and tokenism that they don’t appreciate the fact that he asked people not to sacrifice their daughters to greed. Mr Modi’s speech was free of any jargon like women’s empowerment and secularism, which unfortunately is the only thing that his critics seem to wallow in. For instance instead of using terms like FDI and XYZ he called for ‘make in India’ movement which would automatically give a boost to manufacturing and exports. It would also cut down on costly imports as he said all things imported today should be made in India.
He was actually trying to cajole the people at the Red Fort and those listening to him over TV and Radio into helping him make his dream of India a reality. Like he said he was a pradhan sevak and not a pradhan mantri .
Mr Modi’s speech was a mix of Gandhiji and Jawaharalal Nehru. He dealt with the basic building blocs of a nation with the simplicity of Gandhiji and spoke to the people in a guru-shishya style that was the quintessential Nehru.
