Narendra Modi is the prime minister of India. He ha scripted a rise which almost reads like a fairy tale. But like in all fairy tales there is perhaps an ogre or a witch. Narendra Modi before becoming prime minister was the chief minister of Gujarat. He won his spurs as an astute administrator there and also made a name for himself. There is no doubt that Modi is a dynamic man. But having said this one has to acknowledge that there are broken bridges in his life which have no satisfactory pillar. In other words, there is a gap and creates a mystery.

Modi was for years a  Pracharak or a worker of the RSS a Hindu revivalist party that talks of going back to the age of Rama and 'Ram Rajya'. When he joined the RSS he declared he was unmarried. This in real terms was a lie as Modi at that time was a married man. He had agreed to an arranged marriage with a Gujarati lady named Yoshada Behen. She was a typical Indian girl from a small town who was in my view meek and submissive. This weakness was perhaps exploited by the young Modi.

Not much is known about the marital life of Narendra and Yoshada, though some claim the marriage was not consummated. There is no way this can be verified, but what we know that Modi remained a married man for 3 years. One fine day he told Yoshada that he was going away. He advised her to study as he left her, a better word is abandoned her. Modi went away never to return home.

Yoshada accepted the advice of Narendra and joined college. After completing her education she joined as a school teacher. She continued to teach in the school and finally retired a few years back. She draws a small pension and stays with her brother.

Modi having left never looked back and did not even divorce his wife as he strutted about claiming he was an unmarried man. However a lie cannot be repeated and during the last Lok Sabha election while filling his nomination on oath wrote that he was married. This let the cat out of the bag and what many had suspected became a reality. Modi acknowledged he was a married man but side stepped all questions as to what was his relationship with his wife. Modi's acknowledgement  of his wife was more due to pressure of politis than to any act of atonement.

Modi has been chief minister of Gujarat for close to .12 years and many times hepassed close to his wife residence. He avoided meeting her, this is again a mystery as to why he never met her or gave any financial support. This dhws a callous attitude and none of the apologists of Modi can say much on this approach of Modi. Modi clearly violated the law where a wife is the responsibility of the husband and if he leaves her he must pay her.

Sadly Modi's wife lives in a small town and like the proverbial Indianwife has suffered silently. This makes her a greater woman than Modi the man. Probably Modi has a heartless sreak in his mental makeup. It would be so nice if he could give his version of this tale. Prima facie Modi is to faulted for deserting his wife and not looking for her upkeep. One would like to ask why he never divorced Yoshada and shy he claimed he was unmarried.  

Modi is now the prime minister and wearing a suit that cost Rs 9 lakhs. He wore it during the visit of president Obama who remarked that Modi had dressed up as a Bollywood star. The suite was later auctioned, but that does not detract from the affluent life that he leads. Modi attends banquets and dinners and jets around the world, while his wife travels in a rickshaw.  Yoshada still prays for Modi as all people around her know her as Modi's s wife. 

Many notable personalities have commented adversely on this approach of Modi. Many wonder what is his commitment to social uplift of Indian women when he has such a callous behavior towards his wife. Would ' Modi please comment as what Indian men should? Should they follow Modi. The fact is his assertions that Indian women should be emancipated sounds hollow, when one thinks of how he treated his wife. Did he not exploit a weak woman?

Khalil  Gibran wrote that the moving finger writes and having written moves on. What is done cannot be undone. Modi will however have to face the bar of god and some form of atonement is due from him.