MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not feel ashamed in cleaning the washrooms at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office in Vadodara, where he used to stay during his stint as a pracharak in the 1970s.
And the young pracharak proved to be very finicky about cleanliness and always used to keep things neat and tidy.
A Vadodara-based Chartered Accountant Nandan Dongre, whose father the late Bhalchandra alias Appaji was Modi’s patron, shed light on the less known side of the new Prime Minister’s character.
“Narendrabhai was different from the other pracharaks. He always wore clean, pressed clothes unlike the others. He used to tell them if they needed money to comb their hair,” Dongre told Express.
Appaji launched Gujarat’s first RSS shakha (unit) near his residence in Shankar Pol in 1935.
According to Dongre, Modi was more interested in his father’s library. An avid reader, Modi showed a special liking for books on politics and history and also took down notes. Whatever he read he discussed it with Appaji.
“Once Appaji gave him a book, which pointed out why both Marx and capitalism were not good for our country. It also stated that an economy based on our culture is the only way to move forward. Narendrabhai has absorbed the thinking. I can say that our small library has made its own little contribution in cementing his thoughts.
“He is an avid reader. He may not pay attention to someone, who approaches him for a casual conversation but if someone goes to discuss a book he would give him more time,” he said.
Dongre recalled that the young pracharak used to have his food at their residence. He never demanded anything special and relished whatever was offered to him.
“We would have obliged if he had made some demand. But he was happy in whatever we served him. Sometimes, he used to come late at night for dinner. If the food was inadequate he would ask for jaggery and ghee as a replacement for vegetables. He never complained about it,” he reminisced.
Even as Dongre made it clear that he did not expect any favours from the pracharak-turned-Prime Minister, he was convinced that Modi would leave his indelible imprint on the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“I am sure he will focus on roads, water and electricity. He always says that I will give you infrastructure but it is your job to make use of the utilities to make your living standards better,” he averred.