“PM Modi has yogic will powers,” says Ruskin Bond in his new book

on Feb 17, 2022

Ruskin Bond released his new book “A Little Book of India: Celebrating 75 Years of Independence” which is published by Penguin Random House. With his profound love for India, he is expressing through his own memories and impressions and is paying homage to the country that has been his home for 84 years.

Jawaharlal Nehru was a man of the people and of many gifts and achievements, says veteran author Ruskin Bond in his new book. He also describes Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “Nehru People’s Man”, a man of humble beginnings, whose political acumen and yogic willpower have brought him to the top. "We have had many outstanding prime ministers - Nehru, Shastri, Indira Gandhi, A B Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, many others - and now Narendra Modi, a man of humble beginnings, whose political acumen, natural sagacity, and yogic willpower have brought him to the top and kept him there through two general elections," he writes. He also writes about Nehru's memorable speech saying it was a "reflection of his knowledge of world affairs and his familiarity with the English language".

Ruskin Bond writes in-depth for Nehru in his book and further talked saying “he was a dapper individual, almost always to be seen with a red rose in his buttonhole. He had been to an English public school and University and spoke and wrote fluently in English. He was a westernized Indian, but also a man of the people. He loved the crowds and addressed with them with enthusiasm".

According to Mr. Bond, the Nehru years were, by and large, peaceful and placid years with India beginning to make its influence felt in the international arena as a champion of non-alignment. "We were on good terms with both Russia and the US and China was looked upon as a special friend." Mr. Bond describes Nehru as a man of many gifts and achievements, and his literary works - "An Autobiography" and "Discovery of India" remain with us as monuments to his achievements.

He also mentioned other previous political personalities like Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, according to Ruskin Bond, was a modest and thoughtful man and the BJP's man of the moment. "When the BJP came to power, that same modesty, courtesy, and air of deliberation made him a prime minister very different from his predecessors; a man who could, in many ways, identify with the aspirations of the people," he writes. In the book, Mr. Bond also talks about the diverse elements of India - its rivers and forests, literature and culture, sights, sounds, and colours.

"This little book does not claim to be a political or historical analysis of events, although I have dwelt on the highlights of the last 75 years of India's progress to maturity as a nation," he further emphasizes.