The headline is not necessarily a signal of eulogy on Narendra Modi. But as he celebrates his 75th birthday, Modi deserves to be showered with encomiums for all the facts that brought him to a stage of invincibility.
Either as longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat and going to be one as the Prime Minister of India, Modi has definitely come a long way to reach the pinnacle no one has so far achieved.
Let history speak later about what he has done for the country and what more needs to be achieved by him. The fact remains that he could withstand all the social media tantrums against him by sometimes ignoring and sometimes giving a fitting reply before the live public audiences.
He believes more in addressing the people directly than the press and keeps paying the price of everyday taunts of his antipathy towards the media. In fact, he doesn’t need to address the press, which is in his pocket, so say the envious opposition leaders. He is sportive enough not to be rattled by any media outlet which is mocked as Godi media, a euphemism of saying that mainstream media is one-sided and out and out, a Modi trumpet. It is not necessarily so, if one goes through the aberrations he faced there, too, albeit in a lesser measure.
Modi successfully faced the ups and downs of his prime ministership, the main one being Corona, and his coming to power for a third term is definitely something that can be etched in golden letters.
Radical global changes proved to be his biggest challenge, which, surprisingly, all the top leaders confess that Modi indeed stood strong and stoic without becoming nervous.
In fact, the intellectually bankrupt global leaders looked towards him when they were at the crossroads of how to go about and in which direction. He and other leaders across the globe are literally on a roller coaster, thanks to the eccentric stand that Trump has started taking after coming to power, be it for his craving for money or the Nobel Prize.
Both of them seem to elude Trump, thanks to Chanakya’s brain, which Modi borrowed and used it to placate him and his blackmailing tactics. He has put all the countries on tenterhooks without totally surrendering to them nor going against them with animosity. He played hide and seek, be it Russia or Ukraine, Israel or Palestine, and China and Pakistan too. He did send a message that India stands good for good, but will not take it lying down if it is bullied to surrender.
He dealt in the same way, be it the Maldives, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. His actions at the global stage confused people in India, but this seems to have yielded dividends for the so-called powerful countries to tread a cautious path and not write off India like they could do in earlier decades. Definitely, on the global map, India did sparkle, putting big brothers to be more negotiable than hitting a dead end.
He had gone through rough patches through Pulwama, Pahalgam or Ahmedabad air tragedy but then had his own silver lining through Balakot air strike after Pulwama and Op Sindoor after Pahalgam, not to speak of Op Mahadev as a sequel and sweet revenge of the latter’s terrorist attack.
As Modi celebrates his birthday today, he should also rejoice over his There Is No Alternative (TINA) status in Indian politics. In a way, he has become invincible. Time will decide his exit from politics. If one goes by his health, he can continue, and indeed, he is a true representative of robust health, unlike an average Indian of his age. Healthwise, his strict self-discipline, yoga, and healthy habits go to prove that age is only a number. Modi is mysterious in the sense that at one moment he invites himself to be cornered mercilessly, but at other moments, he gives a true impression of his inevitability. Modi as of now, appears indispensable, but then we are not eternal mortals.
A very happy birthday to Mod,i who now begins a new chapter ‘Post 75’.
