From opening his father’s tea stall to cleaning utensils at RSS office, PM tells #TheModiStory

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again opened up about his past personal struggles. In an interview to ‘Humans of Bombay’, a popular Facebook page, the Prime Minister spoke extensively about his days in Himalayas and how he would spent time with himself. The Facebook page released the interview in parts. The third part of the interview was released on Tuesday. During interaction with the team of ‘Humans of Bombay’, PM Modi spoke about his days as RSS Pracharak. “I became a full time Pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. There, I got the opportunity to interact with people from different walks of life and do a wide range of work. We all took turns to clean the RSS office, prepare tea and food for colleagues and clean utensils,” PM Modi said.

He also talked about the curious habit of going away to a secluded place during the festival of Diwali. “Not many people know this, but I would go away for the 5 days of Diwali. Somewhere in a jungle – a place with only clean water and no people. I would pack enough food to last for those 5 days. There would be no radio’s or newspapers, and during that time, there was no TV or internet anyway.”

Talking about the need for the ‘me time,’ PM Modi said that, “I would reflect – and the strength that this alone time gave me still helps me to handle life and its various experiences. People often asked me, ‘Who are you going to meet?’ And I would say, ‘मैं मुझसे मिलने जा रहा हूं। (I am going to meet myself)’”

In the first part of the interview, the Prime Minister had spoken about his childhood days. “My family of 8 lived in a 40x12 feet house – it was small, but enough for us. Our days began early, around 5 AM when my mother would provide traditional forms of curing and healing to newborns and small children. Through the night my brother and I would take turns to keep the ‘chula’ going for her to use… Then, I would open my father’s tea stall at the railway station, clean up and head off to school. As soon as school ended, I would rush back to help him, but what I really looked forward to was meeting people from all over the country. I would serve them tea and listen to their stories – that’s how I learnt to speak Hindi.”