Skip to main content

In manic hurry to grow in stature, Modi "appropriates" available greatness symbols

Counterview Desk
An anonymous commentary received by writer and commentator Sonali Ranade, and published in her blog site, is being cited as providing "crucial insights" into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's character. Pointing out that she doesn't know who the author is, Ranade asserts, Akaar Patel, who heads Amnesty International office in India, "had once offered a similar insight but he appears to have lost his voice these days."
Already taking rounds on the social media as one of the best insights into Modi, reproduced below is the article which Ranade wants readers to read "with a pinch of salt":
***
There is a proverb in Malayalam that says that when a trivial man suddenly becomes wealthy, he will hold an umbrella at midnight to avoid the sun. That’s the story of cringeworthy Modi.
His latest interview shows the extent of his megalomania, his vanity, his pretensions and pomposity. He is so in love with himself as PM, so enamoured at getting such a plum post that he perhaps never dreamt would be his, that he now cannot see any boundaries to that ambition. It’s overvaulting. It’s unchecked. It’s urgent. A monumental personality flaw.
So, in his manic hurry to grow exponentially in stature, he merely appropriates all the symbols available of greatness. In the first year, the monogrammed suit and meeting with Obama where he broke all protocols and went into first name calling and informal bear hugging on the first meeting, was intoxicating. It turned his head irrevocably.
It catapulted him into a rarified space of wealth, influence, and most importantly power leading to hubris. It’s what classically happens when you get something too precious too soon. You lose its value. You begin to think it’s your birthright. You take it for granted. A niggle of worry about losing it ignites rabid fear.
Then your humble past, the housemaid status of your mother, the tea selling boy, the chowkidar nomenclature, the begging fakir, the visits to the lower middle class house of mother (almost stationed there like a prop) all simply add to the heights you scaled. You use it to fill the ordinary people harbouring modest ambitions, with extraordinary awe.
It is clear from the recent puke worthy interview with Akshay, that that first brush with the most powerful world leader, even today, makes him blush and flush with pleasure as he very immaturely brings in Obama’s name, completely irrelevantly into an unrelated question and claims intimacy of a childhood friend’s familiarity.
The "tu" nonsense will be trolled for a long time. This paints over the grimy beginnings and appropriates all that Obama stands for. Education, class, power, wealth and prestige. In one sweep you try to own it. People who see through want to puke. Many, who don’t, are impressed.
This macro appropriation of colossal power is seen in the speeches where he never fails to tell you he represents 1.3 billion Indians. He made it 6 billion at Davos appropriating 80% of world population in a Freudian slip.
Then he talks about "purana naata" with all countries he visits thereby creating an earlier bond that increases his network of influence.
The travels, the hugs are part of this appropriation of international spaces where he probably thinks he has conquered hearts and loyalties by landing on the soil in a Caesar-like veni vidi vici mode. This is reflected in his bhakts telling you about how he put india on the international world map.
Then we have the threats. If you are not with Modi you are anti national, traitor, seditionist, terror sympathiser, Pak lover etc. Here, he appropriates nationhood, patriotism, loyalty, pride of all ancestral history, in order to again, in one giant sweep glutton up the country of its past, present, and future.
Furthermore, recently he appropriated the might and significance of our entire armed forces. His minions will swagger about how it is ‘Modi’s army’ as if he were Alexander on an interminable mission of conquest. He tries to buy votes on martyrs as he genuinely thinks they are his foot soldiers.
He will use every tragic event to politically push his agendas. All work done by previous governments are disregarded so that he can have that last applause by placing the cherry on top and claiming to have done the whole job himself.
A master of image management he will announce schemes with pomp and pretend they are achievements merely by virtue of their having been announced. He is not a man pretending. I do believe he is in a mentally delusional state where he believes that he has truly achieved. Hence the allergy to questioning. It will break the mould. That pain, a lot of self deluding mental patients living in denial will tell you, is excruciating.
Several interviews, created on the eve of the elections have put paid to the criticism that he fears the Press. But then, in those meticulously crafted interviews of Prasoon Joshi and Akshay Kumar, we clearly see impotent anchors asking benign rhetorical questions that are all couched in predicated glorious praise embedded in, and preluded by How can you be so amazing Mr. superhero? Are you for real? There’s no one quite like you baby! kind of trash. Yes, it puts your teeth on edge.
This very small dwarf of a man then smiles in self indulgent pleasure desperately trying to control his ecstasy and dons a benevolent, self satisfied, karmic, wise expression before spewing forth a bunch of hallucinations, scripted to make him look progressive, contained, objective, magnetic and well connected. None of which is remotely true. A congenital liar needs no cloak of shame. One that has begun to believe his own lies lives in a parallel, altered universe.
The submissive, obsequious and pusillanimous anchor putty clan simper along with the patience of Job. They could be interviewing God Himself! No counter points, no uncomfortable questions, no interruptions, no interventions, no screaming , nothing! The one with Akshay on mangoes and other trivia tried to paint him as an accessible human while heaping praise and allowing for truckloads of bragging.
If Modi could make a trip to outer space, even if they flew him to a satellite station, he would appropriate the stars, the galaxy and the universe. They would come back with stories of miracles. And the bhajan mandali on Earth would say he is an avataar of none other than Sri Ram.
The megalomaniac’s journey from the regional, through the national and international, to the cosmic and divine would then be complete.

Comments

TRENDING

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Campaign group urges INDIA alliance to release Jharkhand manifesto to counter BJP’s 'divisive' agenda

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, an advocacy group, has issued a press release urging the INDIA alliance to release a Jharkhand-specific manifesto to counter the BJP’s "divisive" electoral agenda. With just two weeks remaining before the assembly elections, the INDIA coalition has yet to announce its plans and priorities for the state. Meanwhile, the BJP's campaign, according to the press release, is centered around communalism, divisiveness, and distraction from Jharkhand's core issues.

Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey*  Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

United organisations oppose privatisation of health services in Madhya Pradesh

By Our Representative  In a strong show of opposition, multiple health associations under the umbrella of the United Organisations for Action against Privatisation of Health Services have condemned the Government of Madhya Pradesh’s recent moves towards privatising public health facilities. They argue that these actions, including outsourcing and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, will compromise the availability and accessibility of essential health services for the state’s citizens.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.