Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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PM Modi at Madison Square: Let's sell dreams to the diaspora - Firstpost

It’s been two days since prime minister Narendra Modi wowed the capacity crowd of overzealous NRIs at the Madison Square Garden, but its reverberations are yet to subside. Undoubtedly, it was the most impactful visit of an Indian leader on American soil and the international media justifiably went to town with it.

Now that the excitement is slowly settling down, the most important question is what any communications specialist would ask - who was Modi’s target audience, and why?

The obvious answer is that it was the Indian American community. But why? There is no logical answer because three million NRIs do not matter much in India. Their remittances do matter, which they have been sending anyway.

PM Narendra Modi is reflected on a pane of glass in front of spectators as he speaks at Madison Square Garden in New York. Reuters

However, they mean a lot for Modi’s publicity machine. They have been among the staunchest of Modi supporters and have done a great deal for amplifying the Modi-mania among the Indian diaspora, not just in the US, but across the world. They make Modi the most popular poster-boy of the new India that they aspire for and that they could flaunt to the countries they live in. A desperately poor and unattractive India is certainly a horrible image to be associated with. Modi has promised to change it for them.

“You have given me a lot of love,” Modi said. “This kind of love has never been given to any Indian leader, ever. I’m very grateful to you. And I will repay that loan by forming the India of your dreams,” he added. Whether it’s total sanitation or healthcare for all (which he is yet to announce in India though), Modi was selling the India of the NRIs’ dreams. That’s all what matters to the diaspora, a prosperous India that they could be proud of.

In return to the promises of a super power India, what can the NRIs in America do more than what they are already doing by remitting money? Will their chest-thumbing nationalism and adulation for Modi translate to anything of consequence? Not really, but they can further magnify the Modi legend among the diaspora and on the internet. They have the resources to fight the anti-Modi brigade anywhere on foreign soil and in the cyber world.

In summary, the whole Madison Square Garden exercise was a conversation about aspirations that are mostly devoid of a sense of realism. Aspirations are romantic and alluring, whether they are in a Karan Johar movie, in a leadership lecture or in a Modi speech. Selling hope is clever and the Indian Americans, who live a dual life, certainly offer a captive market.

The observations by Indrajit Hazra, in his ‘5 things I learnt by watching NRIs at the Madison Square Garden’, in Economic Times are illuminating: “These were headbanging NRIs, half of whom looked like friendly NRI gyaenocologists, the other half looking like NRI nurses helping NRI gyaenocologists deliver (NRI) babies. The last time I had seen such radiance, such an abundance of communal (adjective of community) joy was when I had attended an Asaram Bapu satsang on ‘Adharma ke das lakshano se kaise bachein’ – mistakenly under the notion that it was the Xbox One India launch party.”

The significance of NRIs, not just in the US, but across the world is not political, but economic because they send home a lot of precious foreign exchange. India is the largest receiver of overseas remittances in the world, which account for about four percent of its GDP. About 25 million Indians living abroad send roughly $70 billion in a year. There is no point in making political capital out of them, but expressing gratitude Modi style is not a bad idea. In return of their money, let’s sell them dreams and aspirations.

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Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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PM Modi at Madison Square: Let's sell dreams to the diaspora - Firstpost

It’s been two days since prime minister Narendra Modi wowed the capacity crowd of overzealous NRIs at the Madison Square Garden, but its reverberations are yet to subside. Undoubtedly, it was the most impactful visit of an Indian leader on American soil and the international media justifiably went to town with it.

Now that the excitement is slowly settling down, the most important question is what any communications specialist would ask - who was Modi’s target audience, and why?

The obvious answer is that it was the Indian American community. But why? There is no logical answer because three million NRIs do not matter much in India. Their remittances do matter, which they have been sending anyway.

PM Narendra Modi is reflected on a pane of glass in front of spectators as he speaks at Madison Square Garden in New York. Reuters

However, they mean a lot for Modi’s publicity machine. They have been among the staunchest of Modi supporters and have done a great deal for amplifying the Modi-mania among the Indian diaspora, not just in the US, but across the world. They make Modi the most popular poster-boy of the new India that they aspire for and that they could flaunt to the countries they live in. A desperately poor and unattractive India is certainly a horrible image to be associated with. Modi has promised to change it for them.

“You have given me a lot of love,” Modi said. “This kind of love has never been given to any Indian leader, ever. I’m very grateful to you. And I will repay that loan by forming the India of your dreams,” he added. Whether it’s total sanitation or healthcare for all (which he is yet to announce in India though), Modi was selling the India of the NRIs’ dreams. That’s all what matters to the diaspora, a prosperous India that they could be proud of.

In return to the promises of a super power India, what can the NRIs in America do more than what they are already doing by remitting money? Will their chest-thumbing nationalism and adulation for Modi translate to anything of consequence? Not really, but they can further magnify the Modi legend among the diaspora and on the internet. They have the resources to fight the anti-Modi brigade anywhere on foreign soil and in the cyber world.

In summary, the whole Madison Square Garden exercise was a conversation about aspirations that are mostly devoid of a sense of realism. Aspirations are romantic and alluring, whether they are in a Karan Johar movie, in a leadership lecture or in a Modi speech. Selling hope is clever and the Indian Americans, who live a dual life, certainly offer a captive market.

The observations by Indrajit Hazra, in his ‘5 things I learnt by watching NRIs at the Madison Square Garden’, in Economic Times are illuminating: “These were headbanging NRIs, half of whom looked like friendly NRI gyaenocologists, the other half looking like NRI nurses helping NRI gyaenocologists deliver (NRI) babies. The last time I had seen such radiance, such an abundance of communal (adjective of community) joy was when I had attended an Asaram Bapu satsang on ‘Adharma ke das lakshano se kaise bachein’ – mistakenly under the notion that it was the Xbox One India launch party.”

The significance of NRIs, not just in the US, but across the world is not political, but economic because they send home a lot of precious foreign exchange. India is the largest receiver of overseas remittances in the world, which account for about four percent of its GDP. About 25 million Indians living abroad send roughly $70 billion in a year. There is no point in making political capital out of them, but expressing gratitude Modi style is not a bad idea. In return of their money, let’s sell them dreams and aspirations.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

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Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

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Prettiest Gita of them all? Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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Tweaking 'wilful defaulter' definition to cover directors: Raghuram Rajan - Times of India

The author has posted comments on this article PTI | Sep 30, 2014, 03.11PM IST

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RBI governor Raghuram Rajan.

MUMBAI: RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank of India is in the process of redefining the definition of "wilful defaulters" so as to bring the directors of defaulting companies under its ambit.

"The (Calcutta high court had some questions about whether all directors could be declared wilful defaulters and we have looked at that. "We are in the process of modifying the definition so that the directors, if seen, as culpable in actively participating or being grossly negligent of wilful default," Rajan said at the customary post-policy interactions with the media.

According to the current definition, a wilful defaulter is somebody who has essentially not used the fund for the purpose it has been borrowed or when he has not repaid when he can do so; when he has siphoned off the funds or when he disposed of the assets pledged for availing of loan without the bank's knowledge.

Recently, United Bank of India declared Kingfisher Airlines as well as some three of its directors as wilful defaulters. The decision of the single bench, that accepted the bank's position, was later stayed by a division of the Calcutta High Court last weekend.

Talking about the norms for non-cooperative defaulters, Rajan said the guidelines have been formulated to tackle those borrowers who resist repaying at every corner and hold up the entire repayment process.

He said in such cases, the recourse to legal remedy, allowable by the laws from a prudential perspective, imposes a cost to the system because banks cannot get their money using the existing laws such as the Sarfesi Act.

"Therefore, in those situations where there is a deliberate attempt to delay the process of recovery after due process is being followed, can we find a way of declaring these borrowers as non-cooperatives?" Rajan said.

On the rising NPAs levels in the system, Rajan said the central bank is following the issue very closely and banks have been asked to take timely action to deal with the matter.

In the banking system, NPAs rose to 4.1 per cent as of the June quarter, while the total stressed assets including the recast loans rose close to 11 per cent.

When asked about the progress of the joint lenders' forum, RBI deputy governor S S Mundra said there has been some reduction in the number of accounts and the underlying amount in the cases are being taken up at the forum.

He said the definition on non-cooperative defaulter is not a legal definition but a regulatory definition, which will mean that higher capital provisioning will be required in further lending to these borrowers.

It can be noted that the RBI move comes in the wake of Kingfisher Airlines along with its three of its directors being declared as wilful defaulters by United Bank of India and the latter filing a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court against the bank and others, challenging the constitutional validity of the RBI Master Circular on wilful defaulters.

The ex-parte decision of the grievance redressal committee constituted by United Bank declaring Kingfisher and three of its directors as wilful defaulters was also challenged.

On September 1, United Bank tagged Kingfisher, its chairman Vijay Mallya and three directors A K Ganguly, Subhash Gupte and Ravi Nedungadi as wilful defaulters. On September 2, the airline was denied relief by the Supreme Court.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had said the special leave petition filed by the now crippled airline to block the decision by United Bank's grievance redressal committee had become "infructuous" in the eyes of the law.

Kingfisher Airlines owes about Rs 7,600 crore to a consortium of 17 banks led by State Bank. In February 2013, bankers publicly stated they had lost faith in the management's ability to revive the company and started the process to recall their loans.

Kingfisher has not flown since October 2012.

The airline early this month had also moved the Bombay High Court against the Union finance ministry and SBI for a notice served on it last month alleging the airline had wilfully defaulted on payment. The case is yet to be heard by the court.

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