One is reminded of a story, which may well be apocryphal, but is fairly apposite and bears repetition. The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, wanted to hold an open air reception in Simla and sought, and received, the assurance of the weather bureau that there wouldn't be any showers on that day. But while strolling on the mall, he encountered a farmer and his donkey. Proletarian as he pretended to be, he struck up a conversation with him and made the same enquiry. The farmer looked at his donkey and said, "Whenever my mate's ears shake the way they are doing now, it just pours." The Viceroy made light of the donkey signal, but his evening party was a big fiasco. In anger, he had the weather station removed to faraway Pune as punishment. I hope the media will never again mess with Narendra Modi or Gujarat elections. Modi won a landslide victory, which even he and his followers could not have imagined or hoped for. I congratulated him for his brilliant victory, but I sincerely advised him that he should wear a look of absolute humility; he should publicly own that something had seriously gone wrong and that he should loudly proclaim that India could never go forward and retain its independence and sovereignty unless Hindus and Muslims were locked in an embrace of love and mutual understanding. He must declare his firm resolve to bring back to the minorities a feeling of absolute security and an assurance of every kind of protection by the powers of the state. Modi thought out and reasoned his strategy and since then his stature has risen manifold to heights rarely attained before.

Today, vast sections of civil society see in him the next Prime Minister of India. I hope he will plant more visible footprints on the international seashore. He has to speak of peace and a durable solution to the Kashmir problem with the rulers of Pakistan. He must project himself as a great democratic leader of the world and a fighter for human rights and justice the world over. On the domestic front, I am proud to see him winning Muslim hearts by presenting to them the real Hindutva, which even the Supreme Court had to acknowledge and admire. Let not the real Hindutva be confused with its counterfeit version, which unfortunately gains currency during the course of electoral battles.

David Fuller's view These may be hugely important diplomatic and political points for India. However, Modi's leading strength in the eyes of many is in his practical understanding of economic governance. For India (weekly & daily) over the next generation, this could be the difference between third world squalor and previously undreamt levels of prosperity.