To my ‘Jagat Janani’

‘LETTERS to Mother’, a book featuring letters written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mother Goddess, whom he addresses as “Jagat Janani”, is up for release next month. Your diarist has learnt that veteran film journalist and author Bhawana Somaaya, who traces her roots back to the state, has translated the original text, Saakshi Bhaav, from Gujarati into English. The letters — written by a young Modi to Mother Goddess every night before he slept — are from one his diaries in 1986, the only one that survived since the PM would “tear up pages of the diaries and relegate them to a bonfire every few months”. We hear (and can’t wait to read) that these communications with the Mother covered myriad topics including “seething sorrows, fleeting joys and lingering memories”. PM Modi also reveals that “when the urge to unload becomes overpowering there is no option but to take pen to paper”. Now, if that doesn’t pique your interest, we don’t know what will…