LyrArc Article Gist
The title is misplaced- it is Vivekananda as Modi's mentor and hero that is central to the ideas he has put forth for Swacch Bharat, Jal Jeevan, to bring education, water and electricity to the common man. Vivekananda was also the inspiration for AatmaNirbhar Bharat. Mohandas Gandhi said that he had read Vivekananda thoroughly and through that reading he had come to be in touch with the common man in India a thousand fold. Modi has also read Vivekananda thoroughly and felt the same way. Vivekananda has said- "Loko ke shiksit karo ke ve atmannirbhar hona sikhe."  If the common man could not get to education, education had to be delivered to the common man.

Vivekananda's vision was for an exchange with America and Europe in which he would bring Vedanta and Yoga to these countries in exchange for technology and capital. This is not Modi's project, it is Vivekananda's project, simply brought forward by Modi as service to the nation and the world. It also comes at a time 125 years after Vivekananda expressed these ideas when US and European Union are looking for fresh ideas to restructure their supply chain, and taking a new look at the potential of India and Indians.

It is a different America that India faces, not that of the past, after this pandemic and the social plus economic ills that have affected the country. Biden is different, America is different. So is the European Union as it takes on new leadership after the German and French elections, just as America has done. Both look to the future for a partnership with India and Indians to realize India's potential.