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Emotional Modi lauds Kutchi spirit

Savera R Someshwar in Bhuj

All that remains after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Anjaar, one of Kutch's most affected talukas, is a tiny photograph of a young girl lying abandoned on the dusty green carpet that had been spread on the ground. Raggedly cut out from a newspaper, the faded image is obviously from an obituary notice, but the young girl is smiling.

Nobody noticed the fallen photograph in the excitement of the chief minister's visit; it was constantly trampled on. Until an old woman picked it up. Asked if it was hers, she said no. But she belonged to someone, the woman said, wiping a tear.

As for Modi, he had a very successful visit. More than 7,000 people were waiting to hear him speak and to participate in the dharti pujan announced by the Gujarat government to 'appease the spirit of the angry Kutch earth'.

The puja began on a sombre note with pundits reading mantras and Modi performing the aarti before a painting of Bharatmata. A little later, one among the silent crowd held up a diya [earthen lamp], then another, then 10, then 100, as people answered his call for lit diyas in memory of those killed in last year's disastrous quake. Some of the people had brought handmade diyas from home. Most of the lamps had, however, been distributed among the people by government officials.

It was an impressive scene, great for television. Clearly, Modi is definitely a master of the visual medium.

Modi is also a great orator. He clearly knows how to reach out to the audience. He began by requesting the police personnel on duty to sit, so that they could be more comfortable and also would not obstruct the crowd's view.

Next he spoke of the children who died in the prabhat pheri in Anjaar on January 26 last year. Of how they were awakening the patriotic spirit of the citizens with cries of Vande Mataram and Jai Hind. Of how, even as the earth heaved and buildings fell, they did not let the Tricolour drop from their hands. There were very few dry eyes among the women in the audience.

He talked of the loss of these children, who had yet to live life, of the shattered dreams of their families. He said that Indians are a people who know how to accept death; but when death comes in such a manner, how do you accept it stoically? Quite a few of the men in the audience were moist-eyed by now.

He knew, Modi continued, that considering the losses they had suffered, condolences would sound hollow. He was there, he said, to share in their pain instead.

He recalled his visit to Anjaar during Diwali and said, "Diwali is a festival that we all celebrate. But how could I celebrate if I knew that the people of Anjaar would not be able to celebrate?"

Then he told his audience of the young girl who had requested him to spend this evening in Anjaar; of how he was the first chief minister of Gujarat to spend Republic Day outside the capital, because he wanted to salute the people of Anjaar and the rubble that was the city now, and to rekindle hope in hearts that had felt so much grief.

Taking a dig at his critics, especially those in the media, he said a lot of work had been done towards rehabilitation. He did not want to talk of the 800,000 houses that had been repaired or rebuilt, he said, because he knew that he would be questioned about the 400,000 that still remained unattended to.

He lauded the spirit of the people of Kutch, saying he had never seen such courage. He recalled meeting a dazed young man on his visit to the region in the immediate aftermath of the quake. The young man, he narrated, had pointed to a severed hand and told Modi that it belonged to his wife. Then he pointed to a child's head lying some distance away and said, 'That was my daughter. I have lost everything.'

"And then he looked at me and said, 'Saheb, you look tired. Would you like a cup of tea'?" It was this strength of the Kutchi people, said Modi, which would ultimately help them recover from this tragedy as they had done before from others.

Reaching out to the people again, he said that when someone falls, when they face insurmountable odds, they need help to get back on their feet, they need someone to hold their hand. The Government of Gujarat, he declared, was holding the hand of the people of Kutch, and would not let go until they were ready to walk on their own again.

Modi's speech was heard in pin-drop silence, punctuated occasionally by applause. At the end of the function, the chief minister must have been a pleased man.

In fact, the only thing that stunned him out of his composure happened right at the beginning of his visit. As he made his way towards the shamiana a woman grabbed his feet. There were tears in her eyes and she looked ready to faint.

As camera crews and security personnel crowded around and police tried to lead the woman away gently, Modi looked somewhat shaken and at a loss for words.

What he did not know, however, was that this woman was no earthquake victim. She was a political activist who had been kicked out of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, and wanted to beg his forgiveness and be readmitted.

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