What happens when one of the most famous channels Discovery Channel broadcasts the adventurous journey of our beloved Prime Minister Narender Modi, on Bear Grylls’ renowned survival TV programme ‘Man vs Wild’? The whole internet gets inundated with a mixed kind of response.
The episode was filmed on the bank of the river of Jim Corbett National Park. It shows how the two men Narender Modi and Bear Grylls walked through the wild, crossed the river in a makeshift boat and recorded the conversation that they had during the time they were together. During the conversation, he shared his childhood memories and the valuable lessons which he learnt since.
Is he nervous about being among wildlife? PM Modi replied calmly that he does not consider nervousness as a part of his temperament. He explained by saying that he has never experienced such fear and his in-built temperament is very positive. For this, PM Modi said that going down is the way to rise up with more dedication. In dealing with any situation, one should remain positive.
The most daring task that they did together was when they crossed the river on a makeshift boat. And at one point, Bear Grylls warned him for the wild tigers for which PM Modi replied that India’s message to the world is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, which when translated to English means that we should love and respect the nature. And when asked to hold a spear for protection, he calmly refused by saying that God will take care of everything, we should not worry about it.
He explained that, when he was in his teens, he left his house and went to the Himalayas where he spent most of his time learning the quintessential lessons and values of life and nature. He explained that the problem arises when we are at odds with nature.
Narender Modi also talked about how his family respected the mother nature and his struggle during his childhood days. He shared that he hailed from a small village from Gujarat, Vadnagar and his family were dealing with the problem of poverty, still he was very much concerned about his personal hygiene. He shared that though his family was poor, yet his father used to send postcards to his relatives to express the joy of the first rain in their village.
Narender Modi was asked about his experience as Prime Minister of a diverse country like India, to which he replied that his position never overpowered his responsibilities and duties. He gives priority to his country. He elaborated by saying that in the duration of 18 years(13 Years as the Chief Minister of Gujarat and 5 years as the Prime Minister of India), this is the first vacation that he has been to.
Bear Grylls, who previously had other celebrities like former US President Barack Obama and tennis player Roger Federer, on his show, said in one of his tweets, “I couldn’t be more proud to have such a great adventure in your beautiful country India. Together let’s do all we can…”.