What makes me happy about Narendra Modi

I am very happy to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. 

My happiness is not for the party or ideology to which Mr. Modi owes his trust or allegiance. India’s problems are mounting and it will require considerable time to build the altar and we can’t expect Mr Modi to deliver so quickly. 

What makes me happy about Narendra Modi is the very fact that a person who sold tea in childhood to provide economic respite to his family and come up to become the Prime Minister of India fighting all odds can be worth encouraging to the millions of Indians.

We have Dr. Kalam as a role model of the emerging India. Whether Modi can be equally encouraging and become a role model for the future generation, only time will reveal. But he has the right kind of attitude.

It required a Haryana hurricane with rustic English and a Ranchi boy without any background to rejuvenate Indian cricket and achieve something unthinkable for the Metro grown cricketers with all the facilities and backing at their doorstep. Longer the list of such achievers, better it is for our country.
In one of my posts at my blog, http://kamaljitmedhi.blogspot.com/, I wrote “ It is not the top 30% but the bottom 70% of the economic and social strata of our countrymen will decide the future of this nation in the twenty first century". Mr. Modi certainly belonged to the 70% “mango” category whose story should inspire many more to aim and achieve the unthinkable. If that happens, It will be even more amazing that Mr. Modi’s ascendance to Prime Ministership.

You can contact Kamaljit at kamaljitmedhi1975@gmail.com

Meeting one of the greatest Assamese

I have come across many of them in the airport if not personally- famous musicians, cine stars particularly Bollywood heroines, cricketers, writers, politicians or big corporate honchos. I have seen many chasing them for an autograph or a rare photograph to make others envious. Somehow, I never felt the hunger  for such treasure moments.  But this man was quite different. He was sitting in the same row with me in a flight from Dibrugarh to Guwahati and I felt the irresistible urge to wish him .

He is none other than  Homen Borgohain. About, 18 years back, I met him at his chamber for an interview for our College Magazine “AECIAN” with Ismail Hossein and my friend Sanjib. That afternoon indeed turned out to be a special one with Borgohain Sir  after we received a good verbal dose for being late by 15 minutes from the appointed time. Borgohain talked for about three odd hours on various issues raised by us.

Sri Borgohain has been a poet, novelist, essayist, editor of many leading Assamese newspapers. There are far more accomplished writers, novelists and editors than him in Assam. At times, his name did get entangled in controversies too. Yet, to me, Sri Borgohain remains one of the few revered personalities in my life, who has left an indelible mark on me.

For many people like me, who grew up in the countryside in a pre-Google era, Borgohain Sir’s books exposed us to the Literary Greats, Thinkers and Philosophers. It was Sri Borgohain, who introduced me to Samuel Smiles as a teenager and I remain indebted to him.  Those who witnessed the great social turmoil in the form of Assam Agitation as a child, teenager or youth, his books made us fall in love with life. While passing through some traumatic time of my life, I remembered of Reynold Price I knew as a teenager through his writing in Asam Bani to draw inspiration to say for myself “In the last but worst few months, mine has been a happy life”

As we were waiting to collect our baggage from the belt, I gathered enough courage to make an honest confession to him that I was one of those innumerable persons who got benefited from his books. With all humility, he said “ there can’t be anything more satisfying for a reader than hearing such words”.

May his health continue to support to inspire many young generations in future like he did to me as a teenager and youth.

You can contact Kamaljit at kamaljitmedhi1975@gmail.com