On Wednesday, we took off from New Delhi for Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The moment we stepped out of the plane, we encountered dizzying sights.
Even now, as I write this, I'm overwhelmed with emotion. Tens of thousands of people, maybe more – men, women, children and the elderly – crowded alongside the road that leads from the airport to the city of Ahmedabad, holding up Israeli and Indian flags, waving hello. Dozens of raised stages featured dancers representing every state in India. Drummers drummed, others blew pipes or played other instruments. Hundreds of enormous signs were set up at every corner, bearing the pictures of Modi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and greetings in Hebrew and English for the Israeli prime minister who mentioned the long years of friendship between India and Israel. We walked around the streets of Ahmedabad for some time, surrounded by colorful chaos that was entirely for our benefit. A group of locals sang "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem" in Hebrew.
At the end of a long journey, we reached the ashram where Gandhi spent 13 years before engaging in the activity that would secure his place in the history of his people and the history of humanity. The leaders removed their shoes and went it. It was no coincidence that Modi chose to bring his friend from Israel here. As I've already written, it's obvious that Modi sees Gandhi as a teacher – not necessarily his philosophy of nonviolence, but rather his desire to make a revolutionary change in Indian society and bring it to a new stage of historical evolution.
Gandhi worked not only on nonviolent resistance to the British on the way to Indian independence, but also aspired to economic independence. In the ashram, he tried to create a prototype for a self-sustaining economy. Gandhi was unsuccessful in this, which is where Modi comes in. About 100 years after this ashram was founded, he is focusing most of his God-given energy and charisma on making India economically independent and turning it into a global economic superpower. The potential is infinite.
We had the privilege of hearing Modi speak about his views on the subject. Two hours later, we arrived at the i-Create innovation center in another part of Gujarat, where Israeli and Indian scientists were working together to come up with solutions to a wide range of challenges facing this vast subcontinent. Here, too, we were greeted by giant signs showing the two leaders. This time, the slogan was different: "Two nations and one goal: innovation." The enormous space was packed with crowds who welcomed the leaders with roars, as if they were rock stars.
Modi gave a long speech, giving us a window into his worldview. He spoke in his mother tongue and his words were mostly directed at his own people. The outpouring of love for us shows that Israel is seen as a source of inspiration for India's future, in many fields. There is not enough space to sum up the important address. Modi sometimes talks like a teacher trying to inculcate new ideas into his students, and, particularly, independent thinking. At other times, he talks like a shaman trying to raise the dormant powers of the tribe.
Just like Netanyahu, in his own speech, referenced the Bible and other ancient Jewish texts, Modi also drew on his people's ancient literature. He quoted one of the greatest Indian poets, Kalidasa, who wrote in Sanskrit, to illustrate the idea of innovation as a catalyst for creativity: "Just because something is old / does not mean it is good / And just because something is new / Does not mean it is not good."
