Friday the 13th
(Nov 2015) was a much anticipated day for a lot of Indian origin Londoners, it
was the day of rendezvous with their vastly popular Prime Minister. The buzz for
this event was immense and the build-up and preparations update across the
social media made it seem all the more grand. Though, this was at the backdrop
of a heavy pounding that Modi’s BJP has recently experienced in the Bihar state
elections and also amidst a supposedly orchestrated wave of intolerance in the
country, but that political discussion and the debate around the same is for
some other day. For now I would focus on the highlights of the event that was
mostly driven by a hysteric crowd of nearly 70,000 jubilant fans who braved the
chilly weather to be in attendance at the historic Wembley Stadium to be a part
of an extravaganza.
The Friendly Banter. They say it all started last year in the US, when Prime
Minister Modi met Prime Minister Cameron after Modi’s historic Madisson Square speech.
Mr Cameron then, jocularly challenged Mr Modi to replicate this public hysteria
in London and dared him to fill the iconic Wembley stadium to capacity. At that
point in time, Modi also accepted that challenge, unaware of the challenging
times he will have to face in the next 15 odd months. Though, it was a friendly
banter between two counterparts but deep down even Modi would have wanted to come
out triumphant on this one. And as the day arrived, despite a not so congenial environment
back home and with traces of protest out here in London too, it was a pleasant surprise
to see the UK’s biggest stadium packed almost to capacity, all set to embrace
the most popular ‘chai wala’ from
India J.
The Grand setting. I have been to lot of iconic stadiums in the past,
mostly to witness a Soccer or a Cricket match in play but Wembley has been by
far the grandest of them all. And the scale and quality of preparations that
were made for this event made it seem all the more grandiose. The humongous and
beautiful ‘rangolis’ depicting the
flags of the two countries, the quarter of the stadium ornamented in the tri-color
backdrop, a series of beautifully rehearsed and executed cultural performances
and the euphoria of 70,000 fans cheering in for their man in a foreign country
made it all seem unbelievably magnanimous.
Reverse Intolerance. As were getting ready for the start of the event, we
were contemplating on our seating position in the stadium. With lot of friends
in attendance, we had the luxury to pick and choose on our seating position. So
when I came back from my recce of a possible location in the stadium and
briefed my friend (who was in the payment queue of a coffee shop) on the pros and
cons of that probable location, we were taken aback with the response of an
elderly stranger who was also in the adjacent queue. I came back and told my
friend that these seats are better as ‘
Modi jahan khada hoge, wo yahan se better dikhega’. The moment I said this
the elderly gentleman snapped back at us saying– ‘Khada hoga?’, ‘khade honge bolo’, ‘Pant Pradhan hain wo desh ke’, ‘khada
hoga bolte hain, tameez dekho inki’. We could hardly say a word to him as we were not only taken aback by
this sudden outpour of fury but also by the weight of the word ‘Pant Pradhan’. That wasn’t all, he not
only left the queue cursing our supposed rude behaviour against his excellency but
he even told about our indecency to his family members who were waiting
outside. All we could do was to rush pass them with our heads down in shame and
address Mr Modi as ‘Modiji’ and things
like ‘Modiji aa gaye hain’, ‘Modiji khade
hain’, ‘Modiji kamaal hain’ for the rest of the evening J. It an experience of
never before bout of reverse intolerance against Mr Modi J.
Unexpected foreign presence. The crowd in attendance was all Indian, mostly gujju bhais from across the UK but there
were few whites as well. We were pretty perplexed by their presence as to what
interest do they have in listening and witnessing a leader of some other
country. Agreeable, that he is a master orator and keeps the audiences glued with
his speeches but even then to dedicate half of your day for a foreign leader was
quite an effort. We contemplated on lot of reasons behind their presence but
the most probable reason that we all agreed upon was their lure to experience
the jam packed Wembley Stadium for free, a tour to which itself costs around 30£
J. Quite a gujju way of making the most of an opportunity J.
The Mutual admiration society. Mr Modi was introduced on the stage by Prime Minister
Cameron, who had lot of good things to say about the former, so much so that if
he had to vote in India in 2019, it would be a no-brainer as to who will he
vote for J. He even borrowed Modi’s ‘Achhe
Din’ phrase and played it to the gallery by taking a step further by
declaring that under Modi’s leadership, ‘Achhe
din zarur aenge’, though the 70,000 crowd went ballistic by this remark, Mr
Modi was found blushing in the background J. When Mr Modi took stage he returned the favor by
heaping praise on Mr Cameron, it was like a debt paid then and there. But what
stood out the most was Mr Cameron staying the entire length of Mr Modi’s speech
and acknowledging Modi’s connect with the audiences lot of times. A mutual
admiration society they say, may be a potential threat to Modi-Obama bromance
too J
The lame jokes. It’s not a hidden fact that Mr Modi is a master orator
who plays to the joys of the audiences. Most of the anecdotes or analogies that
he leverages in his speech are so interesting that even his detractors are
pushed to marvel over them. Though, there were couple of instances where we
found his analogies rather lame and boring, one such instance was when he tried
connecting the ‘rupee bond’ launch with
the UK’s James Bond and Brooke Bond (tea), a fairly bad attempt to link the two
cultures. Possibly a rare instance of badly used analogy by the master orator J.
Usual pot-shots and the public exhilaration. It won’t be an unfair assessment if we say that Modi’s
witty remarks against the mighty Gandhi’s during the 2014 general elections was
one of the key reasons that helped him gain immense popularity among the
masses. And he has always kept up to that tradition of taking pot shots at the
opposition leaders, irrespective of the venue, much to the joy of the
audiences. This time it was no different, though there were no direct remarks
or ‘Shehzaade quips’. But it was done
in a way that got the audiences on their feet in total exhilaration, as if they
have all been waiting for this all day long.
Cracker of a close. As with any successful speech, Mr Modi’s concluded
his speech with a bevy of lucrative announcements and assurances on a bright
future under his leadership. The public erupted in joy and his concluding ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ chants made the atmosphere
overwhelmingly patriotic. But the highlight of his presence was when he took a
full lap of the huge stadium and greeted and cheered the public who have waited
for hours to soak in the Modi euphoria. The closing fireworks that lit up the London
skies were just the perfect icing on the cake that summed up a perfectly composed
evening.
People might have
varying views on Modi’s way of functioning and brand his governance as just
being theatrical and lacking meat. But if you were in Wembley that day you
would have got the real feel of Modi the rockstar. The media back in
India has already declared (and so has the recent poll results) that the Modi
tsunami is now a thing of past. But the real mood of the Modi in Wembley was
aptly captured by a headline of a news channel – After Manchester United, Michael Jackson and Madonna mania, Modi fever
grips Wembley. J
Well and truly the biggest Modi show outside of India! An experience
worth cherishing for a long time.
--
kin…
This one was eagerly awaited:)
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