The genesis and evolution of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-of-a-kind public broadcasting show Mann Ki Baat will be unveiled on the eve of the third anniversary of his government in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has written the preface for Mann Ki Baat - A Social Revolution on Radio, which will be presented to the President.
“Talking on a one-hour radio show once a month while addressing challenging tasks as Prime Minister requires tremendous efforts, and I cannot but feel his strong passion for dialogue with his people,” Abe writes in the book.
The book reveals names that were originally considered for the programme ranged from ‘PM ke saath ru-ba-ru’ to ‘Varta Modi Ji Ke Saath’ to ‘Modi Vaani’.
“When his officials went back to the PM with the issue of the nomenclature, Narendra Modi exclaimed, “Arre isme kya hain? Kaho kuch halki phulki mann ki baaten karoonga,” the book says, on how the architects of the programme arrived at the name Mann Ki Baat from a casual conversation with the PM.
The book makes special mention of the letters from listeners. So, does PM Modi read all the letters written to him? “Most certainly not. The volume is too much for me to do so. But the letters I read, I read word to word and even if I do not talk about them in the programme, I ensure that people’s issues are addressed or their thoughts are given active consideration,” he is quoted as saying in the book.
On why he chose radio as a medium, the PM says: “I have been a quintessential organisation man all my life. I know the difference the radio can make. American Presidents used it well... So many people heard Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech on the radio. It has a transformative power like no other medium.”
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