Decoding the Modi !!

"You have given me lot of love"

The audience surged on their feet but he was unstoppable.

"The kind of love has never been given to any Indian leader,ever.I'm grateful to you.And I will repay the loan by forming an India of your dreams"

There was a sense of rejuvenation amongst the crowd of 18000 plus people of Madison Square who had come  far and long just to hear Modi.True to their expectation Modi did not disappoint them.

So what exactly pulls an Indian towards Narendra Damodardas modi ? 

To understand this I took the help of my year long research where I tried to track his mannerism, his nature, his approach, his body language, speeches, tone of his voice, his media interactions, how he treats his subordinates and superiors and his style of politics of course.When I look back now, he has excelled beyond expectation on the way he has dealt with people and portrayed himself in public.There is only one reason why he is so popular.This is because he knows "the art of connect".Now to be able to successfully connect there are 100's of ways.One of those ways is definitely hard work so it is just not the image or aura surrounding him.He has successfully walked the tough path right from the time he was chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots to being the Prime minister of the largest democracy of the world.He was always there at the right place at the right time and speaking the right words.He spoke not what he wanted to speak,he spoke what the Indians wanted to hear.They were anyways starved since long to hear their Prime minister speak.

It was a cold morning of mid September in Minneapolis USA.I like any other engineer NRI was browsing through the news of what was happening in India.Ending weeks of suspense and back room discussions the BJP finally named Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections.One man was definitely not impressed, LK Advani, the veteran BJP leader and ex deputy prime minister of India.This was the turning point as I see in Modi's career and what followed next was series of incidents and coincidences which actually cleared all his obstacles to glory.Here is what happened next.

The Reader 

One of the great skill of PM modi is not being the best leader(this only time will tell).Many people don't know that he is a great reader and a fantastic researcher who spends every free minute of his life either reading or researching about people,history,situations problems and difficulty's.Wherever he goes if he sees a solution to a problem he has read somewhere he actually registers it in his mind.Once registered he uses it in appropriate forums whether it is for any policy decisions or at any public event.

The Orator

This is one unique quality of his amongst all the politicians that I have heard till now which actually pulls people towards him.When he speaks he make sure he is heard.Period.He calls a "Foreign Direct Investment to a "First develop India" which is so self explanatory of his vision for the future."Minimum government,Maximum governance","Acche din","Sabka saat Sabka Vikas" are some of the creative pieces of language which was effectively used to attract and mobilize people right from the campaigning during elections to giving out a sound message in minimum words.Why go so far in past, if you analyze his speech at the Madison square there were numerous moments of his literary acumen which not only displayed his oratory skills but also connected instantly with the crowd.Like he said "What does a common NRI need, he just wants his Visa would get processed with little hassle" Now I being a NRI myself and spent considerable time in US I know this is the pulse of all NRI's in USA.Anything positive related to Visa/Green card/PIO actually connects them instantly and if it comes from their PM all the more good.This is what is called oratory strategy when a PIO(people of Indian Origin) reform is not announced through a press briefing but instead delivered by the PM to the direct beneficiary in a foreign land.

His knowledge of economics also impresses me at times.If a PM talks about demographic dividend in public I am sure he has done extensive research on this.When Modi says 65% of Indian population is youth he is actually hinting at a huge potential opportunity.What he is trying to say(and of course did not say) is these 65% youth under WAP(working age population between 15-65 years of age) are actually going to work hard,earn their salary and give taxes to the government which in turn is going to fuel our GDP and used in constructive government policies.Compare this to china who has a aging population(thanks to their 2 child policy decades ago) and maximum people are now entering an age where they would no longer earn or capable of giving taxes.

Hats of to modi who coined the "Make in India" term.There is a huge significance and background to this initiative.India's manufacturing sector is in real mess.Any country's GDP is decided by 3 sectors namely agriculture,manufacturing and services.What we are seing today is that our services sector is actually balancing the negativity around manufacturing and agriculture based output.Once you "Make in India" you are not only compensating the balance,you are actually creating mass jobs.This is true, India doesn't need more engineers they need more industrial workers,carpenters,drivers,plumbers,sweepers etc i.e if they want to have mass employment and run the economy. In china the balance is perfect and thats why you have an iPhone made in China/Honk kong etc generating huge employments.

Now was this trend not seen by previous Prime ministers specially by our great economist Manmohan Singh.Yes he did but you got to give it to Modi who actually reached out, publicized and used his enormous charm to try attract as much investments in India.You need to create a positive vibe and atmosphere around India to actually attract the best and who best other than Modi to live up to the challenge.He is honest when he says India with a billion people and favorable demographic dividend is actually a hub for markets from where the demands rise.When there is a demand there is bound to be supply.

Brand Modi and Social Media

There is no denying the fact that Modi is just not a name or the PM,he has become a brand in himself.With every positive and trending brand comes a huge responsibility i.e to maintain that brand and not let them fall.Take for example an iPhone.What will happen if one fine morning you read in news that all your personal emails have been hacked and worst almost all iPhone's are impacted.Certainly as a brand Apple this is the worst nightmare.Modi is one such brand where he has dedicated team of professionals who work tirelessly behind the scene right from the time he has been chosen as the BJP's PM candidate to his daily PMO activities.He has a strong technical team who maintain not only his Social media pages but also publicize his vision,thoughts and ideas about the future.The one common mantra is "Stay out of controversy or controversial topics and never include yourself in public debates comments and discussions" This has been faithfully followed by not only modi but his team also.Team modi never brags or outrageously publicize modi, No.They just remain neutral and give out facts and regular updates about modi.

Embracing Technology

As I said Modi is a man of vision.He saw it long back that this century belongs to those who can adapt to new technology and make best use of it.If you talk about India being a young nation and then fuse it with the telecom and mobile revolution in India,the result is easy accessibility to Facebook and Twitter in hand.Our favorite pastime.We as humans are so much interested to know what is going on in others life.

When you bring Modi to Facebook and twitter you just brought PMTP(PM,technology and People) together.The result is dramatic.Modi instantly becomes the most followed leader in social media after Obama.It is just not Facebook, Team Modi has made his own website where he connects with the people directly and involve them by asking for ideas,suggestions,inputs etc.

No Political Opponents

This is a known fact.Right from the elections to even now politically he does not have any opponents who could give him a fight or run for the money.Rather no one even attempted to give it a try.During the peak of the elections,rallies after rallies he went on dominating his opposition with his trademark jibe of "Shehzada"(Prince referring to Rahul Gandhi).Mr Gandhi tried his best to defend or attack but ended up being the joke of youtube and viral videos.In short people of India or voters never got an option or choice.This is called Monopoly of the market.If you ask me "Yes I love Modi" but will you always love him "I don't know,maybe yes maybe no till I find another Modi".

Journalist and Media

The more I research on his relationship with media the more I get impressed.He has not only outsmarted the news media with his intelligence but has maintained a dignified relationship with them.It surprised me to realize that the stature of Modi has reached a level that anything negative(even false) by any media or journalist would invite dramatic backlash even in US.(referring to seasoned journalist Rajdeep Sardesai being heckled in Times square).There was a time in UPA regime were the babus and ministers happily leaked news stories to their favorite media often embarrassing the Manmohan singh government.Modi has no time for such indiscipline and has strictly instructed all his ministers and civil servants to talk only when it is needed and that too via the National DD broadcaster.So its not surprising that you no longer see the famed spokeperson orators of BJP like Ravi Shankar Prasad or Smriti Irani in Arnab's news hour debate.Simple rule, less you talk less is your chance of landing in a trap or controversy.Surely Modi does not want to see his ministers in so called "Breaking News" because of their comments in public.The result is everyone including journalist and media houses want a pie of him but he likes to elude them all.Surely you don't get a "Modi" you get to "earn" him.So popular he is,if you don't give him a prime time your rival channels definetely will,in short eating away your revenue and business.It is a vicious circle.This makes me wonder the state of our fourth pillar of democracy.It is all about money and business indeed.I still love my good old friend Doordarshan.

So is it all a Image,brand or a make good feel created artificially through a calculated well planned strategy ?

Frankly speaking no one knows the answer.Modi has raised the expectations of Indians world over.He gave us something which we long lost that is Hope,hope for a better future hope for a better India.As a true patriot I trust him when he says "I haven't taken a break of 15 minutes since I became the PM" and I know he is saying the truth.He is committed to the people of our country and for a better future.He is making all the right noises which is required at this time.As he comes out of his honeymoon period of governance and his words are backed up by constructive actions on the ground it would not be long that we would live in "India of our dreams"

Am I BJP supporter or a Modi fan, "No". Am I influenced by his media portrayal or exemplary speeches,"No" but do I trust him, "Yes I do,I have not lost my hope"