Kala Vasudev Chowk in Vadnagar, Gujarat—a modest house with a tiled roof where Damodardas and Hiraba once ran a tea stall. It was here, on September 17, 1950, that Narendra Modi was born. Today, as he turns 75, the story of the child who grew up in a one-room house that leaked during monsoons continues to define the image of India’s most powerful leader.
From Vadnagar to New Delhi: Narendra Modi at 75
Growing up in poverty, Modi often helped his father at the tea stall near Vadnagar railway station, while his mother supplemented the family income by washing utensils in neighbors’ homes. He received his early education at Kumarshala-1 and by the age of eight was attending RSS shakhas. In 1958, when RSS pracharak Laxmanrao Inamdar—“Vakil Saheb”—visited Vadnagar, young Narendra took his first oath as a swayamsevak.
That moment, Modi has often said, sowed the seeds of discipline and service in his life. His mother Hiraba sensed early on that her son was destined for a different path. With her blessing, he left home as a teenager, inspired by Swami Vivekananda. His years of wandering—at Belur Math, in the Himalayas, and across India—shaped his austere personality.
Returning to Gujarat, Modi immersed himself in the RSS. By the 1980s he was a full-time pracharak, and in 1985, he formally entered politics through the BJP. His organizational skills shone during the Ram Rath Yatra (1990) and Ekta Yatra (1992), bringing him closer to the party’s national leadership.
The turning point came in 2001 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee summoned him to Gujarat as Chief Minister. Modi’s mother, overjoyed yet mindful of his sacrifices, welcomed him home with the question: “Will you live here now?” On October 7, 2001, he was sworn in.
The 2002 Gujarat riots tested his leadership and left an indelible mark on his legacy. Yet, riding on the “Gujarat Model” of development and his image as Hindu Hriday Samrat, he rose to national prominence. In 2014, he led the BJP to a historic majority, repeated it in 2019, and in 2024 secured a third consecutive term as Prime Minister.
As Modi turns 75, the arc of his life—from helping at a tea stall in Vadnagar to shaping policies that influence global geopolitics—remains both extraordinary and contentious. His journey embodies ambition, discipline, and resilience, with Vadnagar still standing as the symbolic root of a leader who redefined Indian politics.
Listen to his full story here…