Modi’s tears only drama? Why is it so tough to believe a strong personality can also break down?

There was nothing unusual in the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke down at the Facebook Town Hall in San Jose. After all, this is not the first time that the country’s strongest political leader bared his emotional side to an audience that came to appraise him. What was unusual this time was the fact that his emotional response occurred on foreign soil before an audience that did not belong to his ideological family. Those who have been watching Modi’s political journey will testify that the prime minister is never casual in his political demeanour, and not easily given to weak moments. Yet he found himself susceptible to a ‘personal question’ about his 90-year-old mother, and dropped his guard. Why did he do it? Ask his opponents back home. Are there elements of melodrama in this spectacle? Ask cynics who look at Modi’s actions from the prism of a pre-conceived notion. [caption id=“attachment_2446922” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Mark Zuckerberg during the townhall. Image courtesy: @MEAIndia/Twitter[/caption] The Congress has already dismissed it as ‘drama’. But the fact of the matter, however, is that Modi’s moistened eyes are rarely if ever seen as a sign of vulnerability. On the contrary, his tender side, almost without exception, shines through from a position of strength. Contrast Modi’s previous visit to United States of America with the ongoing tour that saw him meet a variety of top corporate honchos, IT czars and the top leadership of the world’s biggest economy. In his previous visit, there were clear instructions in the MEA — conveyed in unambiguous terms to US authorities — that Modi would be averse to any idea of patronising hospitality. He was on nine-day fast and had maintained body language that was distinctly stiff, if not outright cool at official functions. There were reasons for Modi to be cautious, as he had been denied a US visa for over a decade on the allegations of his government’s (while he was Gujarat chief minister) complicity in anti-Muslim riots in the state. Over the course of his nearly 18-month-long regime as prime minister, Modi has developed a personal chemistry with US President Barrack Obama and close connections with those who have been driving the world economy from the US. During his ongoing visit, Modi has seemed to be quite at ease whether in the corporate high-fliers, tech mandarins or media moguls. At the Facebook Town Hall, Modi chose to speak in Hindi to converse with the diverse audience, and was at his best talking about the relevance of social media when Mark Zuckerberg asked him a question about his mother. Modi’s emotional outbursts always follow a pattern and come from the position of strength. And more often than not, after walking away with a victory — whether electoral, diplomatic, political or moral — this sees him walk away with his audience too. Take for instance the days after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when he broke down upon being described by BJP patriarch LK Advani as a leader who had done the BJP a “favour” by accepting its leadership in a meeting of BJP MPs in Parliament. Having gained the status of undisputed leader of the party, Modi broke down and emotionally contradicted Advani by describing the party as his “mother”. Modi was conscious of the fact that he was consistently resisted by Advani before the elections, but his tears — while in no way stage-managed — came from his newly-acquired position of strength and he was able to effectively marginalised Advani at the function and win over the audience, without once having to resort to insults or brickbats against the party veteran. Similarly, after his victory in 2007 Gujarat Assembly election, Modi publicly cried among his party workers at the BJP’s state party headquarters in Ahmedabad. Having won the election after a bitter contest in which he faced stiff opposition from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Modi reacted emotionally to the charge that he had become larger than the party. In another instance, in 2003, when Modi (who had won the 2002 Gujarat Assembly election) attended an RSS conference, the general impression was that he would be pulled down or admonished. However, when he was asked about the Godhra riots that took place the previous year, Modi looked out into the audience and wept. The moved audience comprising RSS and VHP members also shed tears and praised the compassionate chief minister after the conference. There is little doubt that the prime minister has his moments of vulnerability. But weakness? Certainly not, these moments come from a position of strength.