What Narendra Modi can learn from Mallika Sherawat

Modi really wants to sell his so-called Gujarat model to the people of India at the next general elections, he would do well to sell it first to the world. Stumped! But that is the actual story here. The world of celebrities in India tells us that to be famous and successful and be recognized in India, you have to be first recognized by the world.

Take all Indian celebrities from different fields and you will find this strange-but-true paradigm fits. Let me quote just one example in pithy detail: the case of Vikas Swaroop, the Indian diplomat who set the world stage of fiction on fire with his debut novel “Q&A” which was made into a successful and highly acclaimed film “Slumdog Millionnaire”. He became famous in India because his book was published by a leading international publisher which gave him rave reviews in the international media. The rest, as they say, is history. The case of Mallika Shehrawat is equally compelling as she hogged more publicity in the Western media than Indian media in her ‘formative’ post-“Murder” years than she did in India. Of course, the Indian media followed it up and made her much bigger star than her success at the box office could normally give her. But wait! This is not about Vikas Swaroops and Mallika Shehrawats! This is about a leading politician of India who is a serious contender for the post of Prime Minister of India.

The world has today become a global village, thanks to rapid advancements in technology, increasing penetration of the Internet and amazing popularity of social media across the globe. The BJP and Narendra Modi have shown signs of milking technology to the hilt to reach out to the masses and the classes — and their political rivals too are not far behind in this either. Modi needs to take some bold steps and wade into the promising field of foreign policy. Thus far, he has shrewdly made rhetorical statements and stopped short of talking about the policies. For example, in his video-conferencing address to American audience on 14 October, he made a valid point: that it would be a mistake to treat India as merely a market. This is what he said: “It is a mistake to consider these emerging counties (like India) only as markets. Are they simply markets? Can we change our terminology? They are emerging growth centres. These nations are blessed with immense potential for human resources and in terms of being cost-effective.” This is welcome rhetoric, even if it can be dubbed as rhetoric. But what about the substance and what about the meatier policies that India would pursue in foreign policy if he were to become Prime Minister of India in 2014?

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