Narendra Modi is the most anticipated winner of this year’s general elections and is touted to be the next Prime Minister of India. The verdict is yet to come about this grand leader, however, one thing that most have noticed is his reluctance to come into a direct discussion with the media when it comes to his life prior to politics as well as his chief ministership in Gujarat.
This shroud of secrecy around Modi is what has made people curious to go through a new biography on the leader called “Narendra Modi, A Political Biography”, which is authored by a not-so-popular British writer called, Andy Marino. It has a lot in the offing, however what is more peculiar is the fact that an author who has no connection with Indian politics managed to gain access to a reluctant politician.
This book has been published by HarperCollins India and is surprisingly being distributed by the Bharatiya Janata Party to the foreign journalists. The good news is that Marino provides answers to some unanswered question through this book. The author states that he engaged in long hours of conversation with Modi, which is perhaps something that no other author or journalist has ever gotten to do. However, Marino remains quiet as to how he managed the feat. In the acknowledgements he thanks his wife and son, apart from Modi and his aide as well as to “senior journalists and seasoned experts in Indian politics” without naming anyone.
The books start from Modi braving the terrorist attack from Pakistan’s ISI agents. The first few chapters talk about his youth or about Bal Narendra and about his leadership qualities as a young boy. It talks about his heroism in swimming a lake full of crocodiles and how he managed to increase him mother’s efficiency in doing the household jobs.
Marino has previously written two other biographies on World War II heroes. However, both of his books have been written without any research conducted from his own side.
One of the critics called Kirkus actually slammed his book by calling it “padded, somewhat superficial biography that, from its subtitle on, makes highly-inflated claims about its subject.” Hence, there isn’t much left to say about Marino’s biography this time around either, and can debated its authenticity too!
