How would you feel if you were Prime Minister Narendra Modi?

Children are ungrateful to parents, youth is ungrateful in general because they ‘feel’ They are getting less than what they deserve! As citizens and customers, we want the best but at our terms and at our price point. You want the best service but you do not want to pay for it.

An illustrative example

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that India is one of the most challenging markets for growth during a chat with Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani in Bengaluru. Acknowledging the difficulties that his company faces, Dara Khosrowshahi said, "India is one of the toughest markets out there; they are so demanding and do not pay for anything. If we can succeed here, we can succeed anywhere else."

This is a business head talking but we do not even care and acknowledge the commitment of a national leader- our current Prime Minister and his hard work. A grueling work and travel schedule- a man who for the last several years has not taken a break and turned around not only our economy and attitude but as brought out a national pride and resurgence of heritage and connection to our roots and history to 1.4 billion people of a nation so diverse.

Kuch Bhee

He was criticized, abused, and grilled by the media and the opposition called him names like ‘chaiwala,maut ka saudagar, Hitler’ and squarely kept on blaming him for riots in Gujarat even after courts acquitted him. Some people and critics blame him for Hindu-Muslim divide and much more. The haters say ‘everyone is scared today’, and democracy is dead when they are not scared to say this. You ask, them, has anyone of your kith or kin been jailed without reason- they draw a blank. They have no clue about the economy but say that even World Bank figures are fudged out of fear of Modi! The standard for measuring GDP is contained in the System of National International Accounts, 1993, compiled by the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations, and the World Bank.

By Jove, if the United Nations is scared of our government, especially our PM then I feel we have arrived, no? I am just taking a cue from nay-sayers.

Most people do not understand the complexities of economy and finance (yet criticize)- but no one is blind to the tangible things which are happening for the first time in a nation that is seven decades old- and no one can be blind. Everyone can see how the highways are being built at breakneck speed, and how airports, harbours, railways, colleges, hospitals, defense equipment are being manufactured. Making twelve crore toilets, opening fifty crore bank accounts for economically weaker sections of society in record time and spreading the culture of digital India, digital payment and a digital revolution of sorts is no small feat. The longest tunnel, highest statue and highest bridge are too to be proud of. Entrepreneurs' spirit and startup initiatives have changed the way our youth think. They are job generators at the grassroots level too. The entire government machinery has been made responsible and responsive. Grievances of citizens are being addressed digitally. Brokers to get the jobs and dues have been cut to size and almost vanished thanks to direct benefit transfer of money. Anand Mahindra said corruption is "virtually non-existent" in the corridors of power in Delhi under the Modi regime.

Millions have benefitted from schemes that have made people self-reliant. Health for all is now a reality- the biggest health scheme in the world. Our arch enemy Pakistan has been put in place and we now have a robust foreign policy which is vocal and assertive at the highest level. India is now being noticed by the world as a mediator and as a leader. The enthusiasm is palpable.

No one is saying that nothing was done in the last six decades. That will be wrong, but could we have done better is the moot question- and now speed, scale, passion and performance have augmented.

To give an example or better an analogy, if a boy is in class 8th and he is at the bottom of the class as per his academic result, you cannot say he reached class 8th without doing anything! Of course, you have to give him credit for clearing all earlier exams and getting promoted to class 8th. But he never came in first five is a fact you cannot deny because he didn’t work hard and shammed it out. If now he works hard, gets more serious, is sincere and gets in top five in the class and in addition takes part in outdoors and extracurricular activities and gets a medal there too, you have to give him a ‘shabbash beta’ and well done- he deserves an applause and a treat! Now, if you say you have cheated (having seen him burn the midnight oil) and come up will be unfair no.

He will get upset and demoralized.

Honest back the honest and doers

Things are changing quickly and government is more responsive than earlier.

‘There was also such a strict licensing regime to import a computer that it took me three years and I went about 50 times to Delhi. Those days I couldn’t afford a flight, so I took a train. I had to stay in some seedy place near Old Delhi Railway Station. Even that cost money for a fledgling company.’ Says Mr Narayan Murthy.

With less than 6 months for general elections, Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has praised Prime Minister Modi for working very hard in reducing corruption at the Central level, stating that continuity of the present Govt would be a good thing for India.

“I broadly feel that PM has led a strong economic progress-minded Govt. We cannot hold the PM responsible for the execution, it's the bureaucracy that has to do it. It's not Mr Modi's responsibility to go to every village and keep it clean. I don't think it is proper on anybody's part to hold Mr Modi responsible for execution. The problem is with the Indian mindset & psyche, we are apathetic and indisciplined ”. Yet things are moving at double the earlier speed.
The problem is our attitude of ‘saab chalta hai’. There is always a resistance to change. People who were themselves dishonest can never believe that corruption can ever be eliminated or even reduced. A song by Lata Mangeshkar ‘Choron ko sare nazar aatey hain chor’ is very apt in this case.

Criticise for the heck of it.

When the PM was making double the number of trips abroad made by UPA PM Manmohan Singh to meet world leaders, Some Indians (even educated ones) said it was for free foreign jaunts! Can you believe it?
When External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said that in less than a week they crisscrossed the world and held 23 meetings. Some said that the jet lag would have been terrible.

To that too some educated lot said, that since he travelled in a private comfortable plane costing Rs 4500 crore, there would be no jet lag! Smell the coffee bro, it is your bio-clock that takes the toll. The aircraft doesn’t matter.
Jet Lag Disorder (JLD) is a recognized circadian rhythm sleep disorder associated with transmeridian jet travel. It is a consequence of circadian misalignment that occurs after crossing time zones too rapidly for the circadian system to keep pace. For detailing this, three researchers got the Nobel Prize for this.

With exquisite precision, our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day. The clock regulates critical functions such as behavior, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. Our well-being is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock, for example when we travel across several time zones and experience “jet lag”. There are also indications that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner timekeeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases. There is no therapy to counter this.

Must be receiving feedback

As a Prime Minister, there are several ways of getting feedback. I am sure every PM has his ways, imagine if someone is working so hard with so much sincerity and passion, getting such silly feedback, how would he be feeling? After all, he is human too.

How would you feel if you were to be in his shoes? That is the moot question.