There will be feasting, feting, but Modi will be fasting on US trip

Well-known NRIs who are organising events such as the one at Madison Square Garden in New York for Modi’s visit said that they too had been advised not to overcrowd the Prime Minister’s schedule keeping his nine-day-long fast in mind.

Among them is Dr Bharat Barai, a physician, who is the main organiser of the Madison Square Garden event, which is expected to be attended by over 18,000 people. “We know the Prime Minister will be fasting during the Navratra festival and this is one reason officials in New Delhi told us not to make his schedule too hectic. In any case, the enthusiasm over this visit is so great and there were so many requests for the Prime Minister to visit other cities that we could accommodate very little.”

Barai as well as other prominent NRIs have reached New York as the countdown to the Modi trip begins. In addition to a giant stage, Barai said, a rotating podium is being put up at the centre of the Madison Square Garden arena, and the Prime Minister could pick either of the two to address the crowd.

With the seating capacity in the arena already “oversubscribed”, it has been decided to have live streaming of the PM’s speech at Times Square. Around 500 volunteers have been arranged to “greet” him outside the UN headquarters as well as at a spot near the White House in Washington.

Barai’s wife Dr Panna Barai recalled that in 1993, Modi had stayed at their house in Munster, Indiana, while accompanying Murli Manohar Joshi to the US. Modi had brought along only two-three sets of cotton kurta-pyjamas and would request her to keep one change ready for the next day, she said. “He was aware that laundry is done here on a weekly basis, and so made this special request,” she said.

The NRI community plans to gift Modi a small replica of the Statue of Liberty. However, their promise is that come September 26, the date Modi arrives in New York, several other surprises would be in store for him.