A Spiritual Journey

“Every month, I read thousands of messages from the country’s people; every month, I get to view one or the other wonderful manifestation of my countrymen. I see and feel the extremities of the penance and sacrifice of my countrymen. I don’t feel as if I am even a little far away from you. For me Mann Ki Baat is not a programme, for me, it is a matter of faith, of worship, a type of Virat. Like when people go to worship God, they bring along a thaal of prasad. For me, Mann Ki Baat is like a thaal of prasad I offer at the feet of God in the form of the Janata Janardan, the people. Mann Ki Baat has become a spiritual journey of my being”. Shri Narendra Modi JI.

Incepted in 2014, on Vijay Dashami Day, the government of India launched a radio programme titled Mann Ki Baat, hosted by the PM, Narendra Modi Ji.  In this radio broadcast, Mr PM chose different subjects for the talk. He shares his valuable thoughts and experiences with his compatriots to foster goodness. The Mann Ki Baat programme is broadcast on the 26th day of every month. Since its outset and till the compilation of the book Igniting Collective Goodness, Mann Ki Baat @ 100, the programme has completed 100 episodes. It is a journey begun nine years before as an experiment to see how the general public responds to it. The experiment exhibited outstanding results, thus continued, and has been the most popular programme on the radio of India since 2014.

Historically, the Mann Ki Baat radio programme is a first of its kind in which the country’s PM connects himself with his fellow citizens through radio, shares his views and experiences and sends bits of advice to the younger generations for their betterment and betterment of the nation. While enunciating on subjects like examinations and sports activities, Mr PM appears as an inspirational teacher, very close to his pupils’ hearts and minds. And while speaking on socio-economic, political and ethical issues, he arises as a political pundit and a guru.

In honorable PM’s words, “Mann Ki Baat is about Guno Ki Pooja (worshipping the collective goodness of people)”. Through the MKB radio programme, Mr PM shares his ideas and experiences, and it simultaneously acts as a platform where our countryfolk, through the most honoured and respected voice of Modi Ji, share their achievements and stories, which help our nation to grow. The fact is, Mann Ki Baat has evolved into a monthly festival of Identifying, encouraging, and celebrating the goodness of our people. Its influence has transcended boundaries, leaving no household untouched and no barrier unbreached. It has established a deep connection between the Prime Minister and every household in India. The fact is that people in the country listen to this radio programme while travelling in their cars. The auto drivers listen to it in their autos, and farmers take radios to listen to Mann Ki Baat on the 26th of every month in their fields. Its popularity is such that our women listen to it in their Kitchens. In the history of independent India’s radio programming, no programme has accomplished popularity across the country as Mann Ki Baat.

Igniting Collective Goodness is the compilation of one hundred episodes of the radio programme Mann Ki Baat. In Shri Narendra Modi Ji’s words, “Throughout these 100 episodes, we have traversed across our diverse nation. We have celebrated the unsung heroes, acknowledged farmers’ relentless efforts, appreciated the creativity of our artists, and admired the spirit of our young innovators. Each episode of Mann Ki Baat is a testament to our people’s indomitable will and strength. It is a testament to their relentless pursuit of progress and development.

The book Igniting Collective Goodness is a nicely done analysis of the impact left by the radio programme Mann Ki Baat on people’s hearts and minds through its century episodes. It is a holistic, historical and comprehensive account, giving it a standalone level as a literary work. Its four segments engulf the entire spectrum of Mann Ki Baat.

In the segment ‘Speaking to the Nation’, the book enlightens its reader with insightful talks Modi Ji has aired through the Mann Ki Baat radio programme, in which students are illuminated on how to prepare for their exams in Pariksha Pe Charcha. The entire nation is being homaged for its Jan Bagidari (Peoples’ Collaboration) in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, a catastrophe that hit people across the globe. The Stories of Padma Shri Awardees are inspirational, moving the reader sentimentally for selfless services to the nation. The Stories through Mann Ki Baat reach the grassroots level of Indian society,  positively playing a transformative role.

Under the segment titled  ‘Enabled Social Change’, Modi Ji’s Swach Bharat Abhiyan and its healthy results on the ground are open indicators of Modi Ji’s subtle visionary personality moving the nation towards a healthy future. Swach Bharat Abhiyan speaks of Modi Ji’s passion for a healthy India. Making Swach Bharat Abhiyan a mass movement in Modi Ji’s capital extended to almost every episode to cascade awareness. The line about the Swachh Bharat Mission quoted by Shri Amitab Bachan Ji is phenomenally awesome because it includes India and its citizens’ inner and outer in a single frame of Swachhta. The line is, “ Swachh Tann, Swachh Mann, Swachh Bharat Mera Parichai ( Clean Body, Clean Mind, and Clean Bharat is my introduction). Every Indian’s clean body will indicate his prosperity, and his clean mind indicates his uncorrupted attitude, and together the two things will eventually make Bharat clean. In the segment, the book sheds light on Modi Ji’s women empowerment movement and its significance to thriving Indian society as a prosperous one. The book has highlighted Modi Ji’s lines as a quote saying, “ In our society, women have been accorded the status of Shakti. This power of women binds society and the family, making them units on the axis of unity and oneness”. The more we empower women, the more we empower the nation.

The segment highlights abuses of narcotics and shows ways as to how to overcome this social issue and rid Indian society of this problem. The segment covers science and technology aspects for awareness and its importance in India’s growth as an economic power. It throws light on the significance of sports as a way to keep oneself healthy. And a means to bring rewards and awards for the nation to feel proud of. Sports has a tremendous role in business, politics and health.

The book has justly viewed the third segment scribbled under the title: “India’s civilizational unity in its splendid diversity”.  The section of the book has poured in Modi Ji’s nectar of words on the pages, making its readers feel proud for being citizens of the country, which is, literary, a blend of cultures, religions, races and languages but remains together as one, and that is INDIAN.  Modi Ji, through tales and folksongs, has beautifully essayed to make his compatriots understand the beauty and power of unity in the country’s diversity. He has aired lines of great impact to tell his people that we should keep telling the stories of valour, contributions and sacrifice of our heroes to our generations to keep the lamp of nationalism and patriotism kindling in hearts and minds. In Modi Ji’s words, “Stories of the valour and patriotism of our heroes should be told and retold to our newer generations in ways more than once”. As we now enter the Amrit Kaal, we mustn't undermine the contributions made by our unsung heroes.

Under statistics and strategies, the book has put some statistical studies done by some reputed institutions of our country. All are worth studying, showcasing public responses to the radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat. The graphs and other pictorials also exhibit the impact of Mann Ki Baat on people’s hearts and minds. Very interesting indeed!

The book is worth purchasing, reading and adorning in your library. It is a marvellous undertaking by BlueKraft Digital Foundation to compile a book based on speeches of Narendra Modi Ji’s radio programme, Mann Ki Baat.