Poverty Was The Motivator That Shaped My Resilience, says PM Modi
PM Modi Recalls Humble Childhood and Canvas Shoes Tale in Podcast
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a candid three-hour podcast with AI researcher Lex Fridman, opened up about his modest upbringing, sharing heartfelt anecdotes including a memorable story about his canvas shoes. Reflecting on his early years, Modi described poverty not as a burden but as a motivator that shaped his resilience.
Recounting his childhood home, he said, “The place we lived was likely even smaller than where we are sitting now. There was no window, just a small door. That’s where I was born. That’s where I grew up.” Despite such conditions, he emphasized, “By those standards, my early life was spent in extreme poverty, but we never really felt the burden of poverty.” For Modi, deprivation was never a hardship but a catalyst to rise above challenges.
One vivid memory he shared was of his uncle gifting him white canvas shoes. “One day, while I was on my way to school, I ran into my uncle… He asked me, ‘You go to school like this, without shoes?’… He bought me a pair of canvas shoes… They must have cost around 10 or 12 rupees,” Modi recalled. To keep them pristine, he devised a resourceful trick: “They were white canvas shoes, and they would quickly get stained. So… I would go from classroom to classroom, collecting leftover pieces of chalk… I would soak them in water, mix them into a paste and polish my canvas shoes with it, making them bright white again.”
Modi underscored his gratitude for every life phase, viewing poverty as an embraced reality rather than a struggle. Ahead of the podcast’s release, Fridman hailed the exchange as “one of the most powerful conversations” of his life, reflecting the depth of Modi’s reflections.
