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Meeting the Prime Minister: A Heartwarming interaction.
In December, we had requested a meeting with the Prime Minister. In January, the PMO reached out asking about the urgency of the appointment since our main program is scheduled only in October. They mentioned that they would try to arrange a meeting sometime in March.
Interestingly, March was also when I had planned my Antarctica Yatra. While I was in the White Continent, I would occasionally wonder if the PMO might revert with a date while I was still away.
On my last day in Antarctica, I received a message from the PMO asking if it would be convenient for me to meet the Prime Minister on the 19th.
Swami Swaroopananda was also very happy that the appointment had come through before he would leave India. After nearly 29 hours of travel, I reached Delhi via London at 2 a.m. on the 19th, and the meeting was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. the same morning.
Meeting the Prime Minister was truly a beautiful experience. During our 20-minute conversation, he radiated the same warmth I had seen years ago when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat — and the same warmth continues even today as a global leader.
He was particularly delighted to hear that I had travelled all the way from the South Pole region, flying nearly twenty-nine hours to reach Delhi in time for the meeting on the 19th. His affection and genuine interest were very evident as we spoke about our initiatives. (Just look at the picture — his eyes and smile say it all.)
I shared about the Amrit Yatra — a group of Chinmaya Yuva Kendra youngsters who are travelling across Bharat for 300 days, covering nearly 35,000 kilometres, spreading the message of the Gita. His face lit up when he heard that one of the cars in the Yatra is an all-girls team. He will meet them at Bharat Mandapam in October.
With great pride, Modiji mentioned that he presents the Bhagavad Gita to foreign dignitaries he meets. He also suggested that perhaps a library and research centre could be created where all commentaries on the Gita could be preserved in one place, along with hostel facilities for scholars. I humbly suggested that Kurukshetra would be a very fitting place for such a centre.
Interestingly, this thought comes from Rajarishi of this era — and that too in the 75th year of Chinmaya Mission, an organisation deeply committed to spreading the message of the Gita. Hopefully, this vision & Sankalps will soon become a reality.
He graciously hinted to attend our grand celebration in October and even made a very endearing, almost child-like request — if we could find a photograph of him meeting Gurudev in Baroda in 1993.
We now have to begin searching for that picture!
He was also very receptive to our suggestions for two possible topics for his Mann Ki Baat talks:
1.Dev, a child prodigy racer and a fourth-generation devotee of Chinmaya Mission.
2.The Hindu temple in Punta Arenas, the last piece of land before the seventh continent.
The meeting was filled with warmth and light moments. Swami Swaroopananda mentioned that he had been waiting to meet the Prime Minister. Smiling and pointing towards me, the Prime Minister responded, “But we have been meeting each other often.” I felt happy and touched that he remembered our earlier interactions.
Returning from Antarctica on Ugadi and meeting the Prime Minister on the very same day truly felt like the perfect icing on the Yatra. It made the day feel deeply special — and the Yatra felt poornam.
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