Modi at Wembley sticks to James Bond, Rupee bonds and 'good days are here' rhetoric after Bihar loss

LONDON: Those expecting fireworks in PM Modi’s speech saw them only in the sky. He came. He saw. But for once not everyone concurred even though the stereophonic rhetoric won the day. Prime Minister David Cameron set the standard high with a crowd pleasing speech replete with a clamour for India’s stake on the UN Security Council and a slick delivery of a ‘good days are here’ in Hindi. [caption id=“attachment_2505718” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi with David Cameron and his wife Samantha meeting artistes at Wembley Stadium/ Reuters[/caption] Modi continued to be a pastmaster of the mike and played his audience. Regrettably, not all the 1.2 billion at home had tuned in because the time of his speech was off by nearly three hours. The issues of terrorism and mutual co-operation took precedence and there was much love. Modi struck two early notes. India’s strength in its youth and the fact that it has, as a nation, adopted poverty as a pet, and protects it when it should shed it. Wembley was reasonably full with the 400 Indian associations having shepherded their flocks into the second largest pen in the world. The roar from 40,000 throats that greeted his arrival may well have sent a tremble through the Thames and for a while the ashes of Bihar and the muck-raking anti-Modi brigade were forgotten. But only briefly.Waiting for hours is energy sapping and the novelty of hearing ‘Modi,Modi, Modi’ can wear thin as it mingles with predictable religious chants and Bollywood hits. Much of the talk was raised to superlatives about India’s potential and it was a slow river wending its way to hard facts. He sought refuge in India’s diversity of languages and religions and cultures and asked why we should not keep it our strength not make it India’s weakness. But he did not give any concrete answers except to step out to bat for the Sikh community and their historic role as protectors of the nation from farms to fields of battle. In a guarded but powerful statement Modi warned of actions that would be initiated against those who fomented trouble, clearly connecting it to its neighbour and using the Sufi tenet of peace appeasing the Islamic elements. Those waiting for him to grasp nettles had to keep waiting. It was all vanilla praise and general cream with little crust. Modi then led his words into a genial moral science lesson just short of preaching. India’s virtues were set to music as Modi fell back on the threadbare angle of the world…once they shook hands, now the world holds India’s hands tight. This was all very good and heartening but it broke no new ground. With his customary ability to slide seamlessly from one dance into another he catapulted globs of praise into the audience and their role in building Britain. With practiced ease he segued into the equation as equality and parity with the world not gratitude for favours. The ‘feel good’ essence was overwhelming if a little tedious like all self praise. He mentioned terrorism in the same breath as global warning but left them both as responsibilities for collective response but did not mention specifics. Progress, high hopes, the battle against the common enemies of mankind, the rose India has taken will get India to its destination. Seventy years after freedom we have 18,000 villages without electricity. I must do it,yes…and the crowd roared yessssss. Now we slid into Mark Anthony and the Friends, Indians, Countrymen q and a. Still nothing concrete. The crowds roared their approval. He played the audience. Never thought poor me, a tea seller would raise the flag on the Red Fort. Deafening applause. By the end of the first thirty minutes there were no sound bites, merely the same old, same old Mother India affection reflected in the toilet scheme with girls’ toilets in schools taking priority and the 190 million new bank accounts for the financially deprived. In a play on the word Bond (James, Brooke to Rupee) Modi introduced an opening for direct foreign investment. And much of it in military spending and solar energy. Modi also took a little dig at the media and said India went beyond what was projected on the small screen. He scored points with anecdotes of success from young people in the minority communities in small towns and villages. The cultural programme preceding the speech was long and unwieldy and full of globs of clumsy culture and while the colourful pageantry was riveting enough for a start it just went on and on. How much running around of armies of people can one take? Also, NRI talent is, at best, amateur and steeped in slabs of sincerity and a little tacky. What you get at home is far superior that you feel you are in a time warp as naive UK NRIs try to generate tempo and excitement. He mentioned social injustices but turned them into generalisations. Then gave the NRIs a lift over the end of the OCI and PIO nuisance and the problems incurring from joining both. Brit Indians will find e-visas easy to obtain and there will be a community fund for indigent Indians abroad. And, of course, the icing on the cake, a direct Ahmedabad-London flight in a month. There was also a forced gaiety what with the stinging rebukes from protestors underscored by rank bad taste and an undeserved rabidity taking their toll especially when you consider Modi is accustomed to ladles of syrupy adulation on his trips abroad. This sloganeering was hurtful and confusing. And it has dogged him since IAF One touched down yesterday. Way beyond dinner time at home Modi may also have lost much of his audience and the opportunity to personify shining India was relatively dimmed by the unfortunate timing of this state visit so soon after the Bihar election. Finally, China got a mention on the business front and Modi sent Beijing a brief message of co-operation. Communalism, intolerance, the beef controversy, motor mouth legislators, safety of women, states of unrest per se, the war with vets, corruption in the police, these were underscored by not being invited to the party. Clearly he opted not to wash dirty linen on foreign soil. Fair enough. Suffice it to say he went near the water but he did not get his feet wet.