The Hawk In Flight

2007-12-15T00:00:00+05:30 The Hawk In Flight -0001-11-30T00:00:00+05:53

Modi Manners

• He is a complete loner
  
• No durbars
  
• Prefers to eat alone
  
• Entertains no relatives: Even his mother does not stay with him.
  
• Not emotive at the personal level
  
• Is only good at mass interactions
  
• Is obsessed with his public image
  
• Has a carefully cultivated sartorial style and gestures to suit his public persona
  
• Is a workaholic. Election or no election, he works from 6 am to 11 pm.
  
• Is tech-savvy and spends considerable time on his laptop

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"Modi is like a man possessed when it comes to work. he's in office till 11 PM."
-Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary

"Modi brought a corporate style to government. So the business class is happy."
-Utkarsh Shah, chamber of commerce

"Narendrabhai isn't personally warm, but he's a tireless worker, campaigner."
-BJP worker

"The local press is against modi. Yet it has not affected his popularity."
-P. Javedekar BJP spokesman

"I am proud that I am a human, and I am a Hindu/ Every moment I experience I am big, wide, I am Sindhu."
—Gaurav, from the anthology Aaankh aa Dhanya Chhe (Blessed are These Eyes), a compilation of verse by Narendra Modi

If the verse is a reflection of the man, then the inner world of Narendra Modi is all about Narendra Modi. That's why even those who claim to be close to the Gujarat chief minister say that on December 23, after the assembly results are out, victorious or vanquished, Modi will in all probability eat his dinner in quiet solitude with himself for company. For at his core, the man seen as one of the most effective mass leaders and rabble-rousers in...