Part 1

I was having a chat with a Teenage Girl 3 years ago in Muscat who spent her vacation in India. Though a supporter of Modi, she had her concerns. She holidayed in an upper middle class apartment in Pune, and she told the tenants were generally very anti Modi. 1/n

I had received similar feedbacks from other upper Middle Class sources too.

The Mistake Vajpayee made was to pander to the fickle upper middle class, at the expense of the poor.

The upper middle class doesnt matter, as they are only good for arm chair criticism 2/n

What has been winning elections for Modi these past 6 years are the following, not necessarily in the order,

Sowbhagya scheme of providing electricity to rural households and the target of 100% electrification of India

Ujjwala Yojana that provides LPG connection to poor 3/n

Swatch Bharath aimed at building Toilets in every household and making the country Open Defecation Free

Demonetization

I have personal anecdotal evidence in at least 3 of the 4 cases above how grateful people are regarding similar schemes 4/n

Let us take the Sowbhagya Scheme of Rural Electrification. I was the youngest son of a Father who was an Executive Engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board. The period was 1978 - 1982. Father was in charge of Chittur Division, in Kerala. 5/n

In three years he worked hard to electrify all the villages under his Charge. I know for a fact, it was a first in Kerala, and am sure it will be one of the first in India itself. He never got any accolades for it. 6/n

But, as a wide eyed young teenager, who used to tag along with his father on all his visits to these villages, and who was a part of the Switching on Ceremony that flooded the remote villages with Electricity 7/n

(I was given the honour as a 14 year old boy of switching on the Transformer in some cases), I had seen the gratitude in the eyes of the old who have lived their life in darkness, and the thrill in the face of the young. 8/n

You have to remember that this was the period before Television and Internet. The reception we got in these villages were unbelievable.

My father, a Brahmin, was reverently called Swamy, and he was akin to God to many of these simple villagers. 9/n

There is a PS to this. My father retired in 1985.

It was in 1991, me and my father got out of our Volkswagon Beetle, and were crossing the road in Palghat town, when three rural men, rushed across the street, & with utmost respect asked my father whether he remembered them 10/n

He had a phenomenal memory. He immediately recognized them as from a Village he electrified during his tenure.

They again expressed their gratefulness to him, and told him how his initiative changed their lives forever. 11/n

One guy proudly said his children's academic performance improved dramatically after electrification, and his son was doing Engineering in a reputed Government College, and daughter was doing her Post Graduation in Palghat Mercy College. 12/n

Normally an unemotional man, I could see that my father was moved that he could touch the lives of many people.

He murmured that he only did his duty, and politely took leave of those good men. 13/n

Regarding LPG, I know personally how LPG in 1972, when we moved to Palghat from Vadakara, made my Mother's life easier.

Earlier she used to struggle with Pressure stove and wick stove. And much earlier, she used Firewood. 14/n

In 1989, when I joined Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, as a Sales Officer in charge of Coimbatore Sales Area, LPG was just getting popular.

But Many rural households were reluctant to use LPG, as they feared the Gas Cylinder would explode. 15/n

I had run campaigns educating these poor women, and slowly they started to adapt to LPG.

Then something changed, and within 2 years, there was a massive explosion of demand, and LPG connections were in short supply. 16/n

But I still vividly remember those poor rural women, who were uncertain about using LPG, eagerly listening to my lecture demonstration in Tamil and their apprehensive questions about safety. 17/n

What still lingers in my mind is the chatter among themselves after the event, and a new found determination to conquer the fear of the unknown. I am sure use of LPG changed their lives for ever, as it did for my mother couple of decades earlier. 18/n

During these Lecture-Demonstrations, I would exhort that girls ready for marriage should not agree for marriage unless it is ensured that her husband has a LPG connection. 19/n

The girls would snigger, but I can clearly recall the steely determination and agreement in the eyes of their mother, who understood the implications of the point I just made. 20/n

Most of the poor households in rural India have one or two rooms, and no separate kitchen. Using firewood fills the room with smoke, makes it dirty and leads to health problems associated with air pollution. I am sure Modi will have their gratitude for providing a clean fuel 21/n

Continued in Part 2 ............ n/n