“Modi’s Mission”, a book written by former journalist and lawyer Berjis Minoo Desai, was released by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat on Friday here.
Published by Rupa Publications, the 264-page book has detailed insights into the leadership and governance philosophy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The event was also graced by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, featured an introduction to the book, reflections by its author Berjis DEsai as well as addresses by dignitaries, followed by keynote remarks by Devvrat.
Talking about his book, Desai said, “This book is not another biography of Prime Minister Modi. It is not about his politics or election campaigns or any of his present day political opponents. As a matter of fact, none of them are even mentioned in my book”.
“I wrote the book for two reasons. Firstly, as we are in the midst of a lot of events happening in the midst of history, we are unable to fully appreciate that position Narendra Modi will ultimately hold in the history of modern India. Secondly, we also underestimate the sheer enormity of the task he has done over 24 years of elective public office which he has held,” he said.
“The book is not about politics. Not even a single political opponent has even been mentioned by name. The whole idea behind the book is to show his governance of what he has achieved in various aspects of life which cuts across party lines. Here is an iconic leader who has done things for the country.
“You may not agree with his entire philosophy or political philosophy or the manner in which his party thinks, but you cannot fail to appreciate what this person has done, if you are truly dispassionate,” Berjis Desai said.
“He spent 13 years as Gujarat CM and 11 years as PM, where he put in 16 hours a day and with hardly four and a half hours of sleep. So I took it upon myself to explain his personal spiritual journey, the mindset which evolved during extremely hard conditions during his childhood which people still do not know.
How he left home permanently at 17, how he spent two and a half years when he was in the Himalayas and in the northern parts of the country. All the spiritual experiences he had as well as what motivates him has been mentioned in my book,” Berjis Desai said.
“Modi’s life has been a continuous story of service and sacrifice for all these years because even before public office for 30 years he was a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a BJP functionary.
“My book details how he has been a transformative agent, one who has uplifted the collective consciousness of Indians beyond political party lines, the way he transformed Gujarat, the challenges he faced and things like how Article 370 came to be abrogated. I have also traced the history of Kashmir from 1948 onwards, without the usual whitewash put on it by some of our historians,” Berjis Desai said.
“I have written about how he made India the world’s fastest growing economy, the digitalisation of the economy, achievements like direct benefit transfer and the welfare state. We are unable to appreciate the staggering welfare state which is evolving every day.
“But more importantly, another reason behind writing this book is that while I was doing research for this book, I realised the palpably false narratives which have been spun by a section of India’s intellectual elite, the western media and some of our left leaning historians who obviously cannot assail his impeccable integrity and his administrative acumen and his relentless hard work,” Berjis Desai said.