Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known to have mastered the art of apprehending reality through the prism of details, and therefore grasp things accurately
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a punctilious personality, and that is now public knowledge as his ability to pay attention to the smallest of details, connecting the dots and developing insights is one of his several qualities which set him apart.
Last Sunday, he was seen picking up an empty water bottle littered around while inspecting the newly inaugurated ITPO tunnel built under Pragati Maidan.
PM Modi has mastered the art of apprehending reality through the prism of details, and therefore grasp things accurately.
Several of Modi’s co-travellers offer a glimpse into his organised life and his meticulous personality.
Back in Gujarat in the early 80s, Natubhai Dabhi was a Tehsil Pracharak in Gandhinagar and PM Narendra Modi the RSS Vibhag Pracharak. Recalling how PM Modi very earnestly planned an RSS camp to the tee, Natubhai says, “Modi planned everything in great detail. From safety pins to stapler, he asked us to make written notes of everything. He even made an estimation of the amount of water required per litre per person for bathing, drinking etc. Not only that, he even calculated the units of electricity that would be consumed in the camp.”
“The camp turned out to be a great success. He even gave me lessons on how to iron a shirt: You should first button the top button of the shirt and let your iron reach the right temperature. And start with ironing the part of the shirt which shows,” he said.
“How PM Modi used to plan his travels (pravas) was also remarkable. He would ask us to prepare a detailed itinerary of his travels. Which car we would be travelling by, whether it runs on petrol or diesel, the distance to be covered, who would we be meeting and at what time, whose house we would be eating at and where we would be staying; he would have everything planned minute by minute. I have served as a pracharak for almost 20 years, but those few days under Modi’s guidance really transformed the way I look at things. I understood how attention to detail is at the heart of any great endeavour.”
Ramesh Mehta is a Mumbai-based businessman and a long-time friend of PM Modi. The Prime Minister’s visits to Mumbai were often marked by his stay at his dear friend’s house, who PM Modi considers family. Reminiscing those times, Ramesh Mehta says: “When Narendrabhai would visit Mumbai, he would often stay at our house. I can’t help but recall some unmissable details in his personality. He had a penchant for cleanliness and being primp. His hair would be properly oiled, always in place. Not a hair here, not one there. He would carry a small comb in his pocket. Whatever he wore would be well ironed.”
Mehta recalls that PM Modi “wasn’t bound by traditional notions of what it meant to be a social servant… He had even donned jeans once.”
“We had a room reserved for him in our house. Everything was very carefully placed where it was supposed to be. If he had to do puja the following morning, he would do all the preparations for it before going to the bed. He would get up early and do his Omkar,” Mehta recalls.
“A minimalist, he would carry very few things in his bags. Just a napkin and a gamucha.”
Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narsimha Rao, expressing great admiration for Modi’s assiduous and conscientious work-style, says, “I have met Modiji several times over the years since he became the Gujarat CM. A Chief Minister’s office is often lined up with hundreds of visitors and especially the office of a proactive CM like him! But his day would be so skilfully planned that we never had to wait a minute later than the appointed time to see him.”
“Another exceptional detail that I couldn’t miss was how his table was spick and span with no files pending whatsoever. There wasn’t even a single piece of paper to be found on his desk. No passing the buck and improved work spaces and culture. These are the markers of Modi’s work style. I think even the biggest CEOs of the corporate world may take management lessons from Modiji.”
Member of Parliament (MP) Anil Agrawal had a similar story to tell. This one about Modi’s signature half-kurta. He recalls his meeting with PM Narendra Modi some 20-25 years back.
“Narendra Modi was the BJP General Secretary then and used to stay at the party HQ on 11, Ashoka Road, New Delhi. As a young party karyakarta from Ghaziabad I had gone to visit him. I noticed Modiji was wearing a half-kurta. That was the first time I had seen someone don a halfkurta. My inquisitiveness overtook and I asked him, “Why do you wear a half-kurta?” Modiji smiled and said, “Delhi’s scorching summers compelled me to cut the sleeves in half. Moreover, I wash my own clothes. So, short sleeves save me a lot of effort and also soap’.”
“I thought to myself, ‘I have never seen someone as precise and meticulous about things as Narendra Modi’.”
Adding to this is Union Minister Sarbanand Sonowal said, “I had completed one year to being the CM of Assam. We decided to invite Modiji to celebrate this milestone. A massive rally was held. Thousands of people turned up. Modiji was sitting on the stage with me. Behind a swarm of thousand people stood a lonely tree brimming with flowers. Modiji noticed it and asked me, ‘Sonowalji, what’s the tree called?’ ‘Krishnachura’ I replied. ‘Is this prevalent throughout Assam?’ ‘Yes. It’s found all over Assam’, I told him. Very enthusiastically Modiji suggested, ‘Why don’t you plant it all over Assam? The tree looks beautiful with its flamboyant display of flowers and has a lot of potential to propel tourism in the state’.”
“Can you imagine he has such sharp eye for detail! Following this we planted lakhs of trees across the length and breadth of Assam,” Sonowal says.
Aniruddhbhai Patel is a swayamsevak from Sabarkatha, Gujarat. Circa 1984 PM Narendra Modi was the Vibhag Pracharak and Patel was the RSS Nagar Karyawaha back then. As a Vibhag Pracharak in-charge of 4-5 districts, Modi was visiting the RSS karyalaya (office).
Explaining how PM Modi went into excruciating details to avoid the tiniest incongruence, Patel recalls, “We had a modest karyalaya which was housed in a small 10 x 12 feet room. Narendrabhai was keenly examining every nook and cranny of the office.”
“After detailed inspection, Narendrabhai said, ‘You need to primp up the place. Please change the bed spread and also get 2 bolster pillows. Get matting done on the floor and curtains to cover the shelf. Get the room painted in a better colour. However, small be the office, it should look presentable. I’ll visit the office again after a month and expect necessary changes to be made’,” Patel narrates.
Paying attention is critical to further action and can have a significant impact on the final outcome of things, the life of PM Modi has averred. It’s the little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary and PM Narendra Modi’s life is a living example of that. Brings one to Walt Disney’s celebrated remark: “There’s no magic in magic, it’s all in the details”.
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.