PM Narendra Modi’s 4th Day In Japan: Of Drums, Gandhi And Mouse

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wrapped up his busy fourth day in Japan. He was in an upbeat mood as always and has maintained the successful tone of the visit till now.

His first stop for the day was Tokyo’s Sacred Heart University where he gave his gyan on Indian ethos to Japanese students.

“India is such a country where people love and communicate with nature,” he said. In this context, he said earth is respected as mother, moon is treated as ‘mama’ (uncle), sun and Himalayas as grandfather, rivers as mother while trees are worshipped like God.

Referring to the terminology of Climate Change, Modi questioned whether it is correct. “Is it climate change or habit change? Our habits have changed and we are fighting the nature. We should rather have communication with nature,” he said.

He then suggested the students to read his book ‘Convenient Action’ on climate.

Addressing the girl students of the university, he talked about the importance of girl education and his personal attachment to the issue. “India is the only country which has gods in the shape of female,” he said. Coining his sentence in the context of a Cabinet, he said education is linked to Goddess Saraswati, finance to Goddess Laxmi, Security and Home Affairs to Goddess Mahakali and Food Security to Devi Annapurna. He also pointed out that women have 33 per cent reservation in local bodies in India.

He also mentioned about his parting gift to the girls of Gujarat where he had auctioned all the gifts he had got during his 14-year tenure as Chief Minister (worth Rs 78 crore) and the amount was deposited in the government treasury for use for girls’ education. 

At the university, Modi posed for a ‘selfie’ with a small group of Indians who were excited on seeing him.

The Prime Minister then launched Tata Consultancy Services’s Technology and Cultural Academy. He could barely wait his turn when TCS CEO N Chandrasekaran invited the PM to play a note on the drums after the professional drummers had finished.

“Pehle drum bajaiyen?” a beaming Modi asked.

The two drummers – one man and one woman — did their number and then Modi took over, playing the drums at a rapid beat and holding his own when the male drummer joined him. The audience – some of it on videoconference — burst into applause when he had finished.

The Technology and Cultural Academy has been set up with an aim to send young Japanese employees to India for training in technical and cultural skills. The programme involves eight weeks of classroom training and six months project work at various locations in India.

The Prime Minister, hence, asked the trainees not to get locked into a classroom and venture out every weekend and, of course, spend some money.

He also addressed Japanese investors at a seminar organised by the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) and Nikkei. “I have come to assure you that there is no Red Tape but Red Carpet in India. We have eased off lot of regulations,” Modi said.

Calling for a new history between the two countries on the economic front, the Prime Minister said India is the only place where one can find “democracy, demography and demand”. He told Japanese investors that India is a “god gifted location” for reaching out to global markets. Modi said his government is ready to offer whatever is required to promote foreign investment into India.

“Without Japan, India is incomplete and without India, Japan is incomplete”, he said.

Later, he interacted with the Indian community in Tokyo. The Prime Minister urged Indians to work for their country and use what it takes to spread the message back home.

“So if you write to your folks back in India…I know you don’t write letters anymore… You must be connected on WhatsApp or have made friends on Twitter, it is important to get the message across, no matter what the medium,” he said, speaking about a “Clean India” mission to honour Mahatma Gandhi.

He also recounted how he told an interpreter, who had asked whether “black magic and snake charmers still exist in India”, in Taiwan a few years ago, “We’ve had a devaluation. We used to play with snakes now we play with the mouse. When we move a mouse, the whole world moves.”

Before this event, the PM was virtually mobbed as he broke a security cordon at the Indian Embassy and waded into a crowd that wanted to shake hands with him and even touch his feet.

Tomorrow, the five day Japan visit will come to an end, but the friendship that has started is bound to last longer.