Modiji and Nikhil Kamath: A Contrast in Philosophies and Leadership Lessons

Since I follow the PM on Facebook, on my routine 30 min scroll to check the news I saw there is a live podcast of his being telecast. I didn’t recognize the face or the name of the interviewer Nikhil Kamath. My husband and I immediately switched to you tube and started watching. 

My immediate reaction was why Nikhil K. he looked uneasy, his questions were very basic and not well articulated and he represented a typical start up kind of boy from the corporate world. I looked him up and well my guesses were all correct other than I also found out that this uneasy nervous looking boy who seemed to lack articulation and looked flimsy and lacking substance in front of Narendra Modi had a net worth of 3 BN USD.

As the podcast progressed I grasped the importance of the contrast. On one side is Nikhil K representing a westernized Indian mindset, a person who is ambitious and driven by materialistic goals obsessed with self-gratification and on the other side is a man in Narendra Modi who joined the RSS as a balswayamsevak (child volunteer) at the age of 8, and symbolizes the mindset of Indian ethos and philosophy which is driven by Yogic goals of service, nation first, dissolving yourself in the fire of your selfless mission and a life full of giving not expecting anything in return. 

My husband and I joined the RSS 6 months back in Sydney. We go every Sunday and spend 1.5 hours with our Shakha family (parivar). We see kids similar to the age at which Narendra Modi joined Shakha and when you see Modiji today and you understand what Shakha teaches you are not at all surprised by why Modiji is Modiji. In face even in my limited exposure I can see a stark difference in Sydney in kids who come to Shakha. The first thing that strikes you about the Shakha kids are that they will grow up with strong characters. Metaphorically they remind me of a big tree which is strongly rooted and very well entrenched to sprout and grow tall and touch the skies.  

There were 5 responses of Modiji to Nikhil Kamaths’ questions that stood out and brought about what can be achieved by adopting the Indian yogic philosophy in life beautifully. It is a good reminder to all the parents too to ensure as you facilitate your child’s growth you invest heavily in making sure your child is rooted. Give your children the tools that our Indian philosophy has in abundance it will serve them well and they will not need anxiety therapies or artificial insemination of healing them with mind issues externally as they organically would be in synch with their selves and their place in the universe.

• On being asked how does he handle anxiety- Modiji said he doesn’t. He focusses on the work he needs to do and is constantly thinking of the people he is serving. Since he makes that his guiding principle he is able to overcome any personal challenges by ensuring all his efforts are focussed on serving. This is a very important concept. In today’s world everything has become about self-image. How do I look, how am I perceived, what do people think of me, am I tagged as trendy, successful or cool? All the parameters are external. It’s like the remote control of your feelings and mind is with everyone else other than you. This emanates from a society which is very image conscious and is materialistically oriented. Now contrast that with a society free from the desire for outward appearances or external validations. Its rooted in the philosophy and belief of self-transformation driven internally. You are answerable to yourself for your mission and you are on a path where only you get to judge yourself and its between you and your maker. The whole issue of anxiety goes away. It’s a totally different paradigm. A child who attends the Shakha every Sunday from the age of 8 grows with the concept of internal self-transformation and is not going to get swayed by how many likes they got on social media.

  
  

• Modiji mentioned that as a child he was not competitive and liked to try new things but wasn’t able to focus on one thing too deep to excel in it, Nikhil K compared it to Jedu Krishnamurthy’s philosophy of education which shuns competition and made a statement to Modiji that you believed in that. Modiji immediately responded no he doesn’t believe in any such philosophies he was simply lazy as a child.  To my mind this is brilliant. And its brilliant simply because it is such an honest answer. Most of the successful people manipulate the public at large via their podcasts and interviews or biographies and claim things about their life which were never true. And since these are public figures they do have a responsibility not to lie as they influence people. They are copied in their actions and their believes & stories become the gospel truth for many. Now imagine if Modiji would have said competition is bad and he didn’t believe in it. It would have been so dishonest and there would have been many mothers, educationists thinking to themselves next time my child doesn’t perform well I will blame it on competition. One lie manifests in so many different lies and cover ups and impacts many energy circles viscously and wreaks havoc. Simply admit your child is lazy as Modiji admitted about himself. Knowing the true nature of things is again a very important yogic principle.

  
  

• Talking about attracting young blood into politics one of the key message Modiji gave was come with mission not ambition. This is platinum! It was music to my ears to hear this. In this world which is full of greed and ambition having a leader talk about the importance of mission was simply brilliant. If kids are raised with philosophy of mission which means a strong felt aim or calling vs ambition which is a desire or determination to achieve success half the pressure is instantly gone. This is completely in line with the teachings of Bhagvad Gita which reminds us constantly to not to focus on outcomes but to work in line with one sense of duty or mission. Modiji goes on to say लेना, पाना और बनाना ये अगर मकसद है तो उसकी आयुष बहुत लंबी नहीं है। – meaning if all you are focussed on is what can I get, what can I amass and what can I become that this kind of a thought process doesn’t take you very far! He says that once on the political stage he made 3 promises, I will work hard, I will not be selfish and I am human I can make a mistake but my intention will never be to hurt anyone. This sounds as euphonious as listening to Lata Mangeshkar. Imagine India’s most successful politician saying this. We have grown up in the decades of seeing the worst kind of people becoming politicians and today I feel blessed to be alive to see that someone who talks like this is revered at the global stage. Going back to the RSs connect when you observe that organisation closely you are not surprised though, you know it makes people like Modiji it is a factory of nation first, character building and people who believe in self less service and giving back to their communities, societies, nation and mother earth.

  
  

• Another jackpot Modiji makes when he says more important than ideology is idealism. Ideology is a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. Idealism in philosophy is the belief that reality is fundamentally shaped by mind, spirit, or consciousness, and that ideas are the truest form of reality. Indian philosophy argues for an all-pervading consciousness as the true nature and ground of reality. Reading through the definitions itself tells you that ideology is static it holds you down to certain set of ideas whereas idealism is dynamic, it is freeing up it allows you to move around and evolve change with the guiding principle of being true to consciousness and rooted in reality. Again a posture that is very close to the Indian philosophy and in today’s age of high tech and artificial intelligence it is an era where ideas count.

  
  

• The last one and my most favorite that I am bringing up was Modiji’s response to the question that do politicians need to be thick skinned? He said they need to be "संवेदनशील" (samvedansheel) which means "sensitive". "संवेदनशील” can refers to someone who is emotionally perceptive, responsive, or considerate, to a situation or to an object that is delicate and requires careful handling. The reason this is my favourite is that I grew up listening to 99.9% people around me saying politicians are all bad and only the worst kind of people get into politics etc. I disliked this intensely as my logic said that politicians are one of us and they represent us if they are bad then we are all bad and my eternal faith in humanity and the human spirit didn’t like the thought of living with the belief that we are all bad. Coming back to Modiji’s response how magically he showed a completely different paradigm to the one where he could have spoken for hours about how much he has been wrongfully trolled and the worst kind of names and things he has been called yet he discarded the meaningless distraction of foolish people saying wrong things to focus on the reality that anyone who works in the field of serving people and humanity needs to be sensitive. That is the truth. You cannot truly be in public service unless you have empathy and you are deeply touched by humanity and want to invest your life and time in working for others. As Modiji says being a politician and the work of a politician involves “खप जाना”, which implies seamlessly integrating or dedicating oneself completely to something.

  
  

By the end of the podcast, I could fully appreciate Nikhil K’s interview with Narendra Modi. It beautifully highlighted the contrast between two distinct philosophies and ways of life. Having joined the RSS recently, at nearly 50 years of age, I often find myself wishing my parents had enrolled me in the RSS during childhood. The mindset and way of life it fosters are deeply rooted in Indian philosophy, guided by the principles of the Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas. Having lived and been shaped by Western philosophies, I now realize I would choose the Indian approach any day. As you grow older and experience life’s truths, you naturally gravitate toward these teachings, which emphasize that true happiness lies in giving, selfless service, competing with yourself, and focusing on inner transformation—the ultimate purpose of life.