'A Leader Born With A Mission': Berjis Desai's Book Details PM Modi's Early Life, Achievements

Last Updated:October 27, 2025, 13:57 IST

The author writes that even those who adore or admire Narendra Modi, do not realise the extent of his sacrifice.

The book details the Prime Minister’s life story.

When Narendra Modi first became Gujarat Chief Minister, and someone claiming to be his relative, asked a government secretary for a favour, Modi bluntly and categorically told his secretaries and staff that ‘Modi no koi sago nathi!’ (Modi has no relatives).

Such fascinating details have been captured in the book ‘Modi’s Mission’ by writer Berjis Desai, which was released recently. CNN-News18 has excerpts from the book that details the Prime Minister’s life story. “It is a fallacy to think that Modi is just another politician. In the history of every great nation, and in every century or so, a leader is born with a mission. It was Gandhi in the 20th century; it is Modi in the 21st," the book says. The book also adds that the constant undermining of Modi’s extraordinary achievements by the Western media, and the angst of a section of the Indian intellectual elite against him, needs to be dispelled.

Modi’s Roots

The book says Modi’s house had no electricity when he left home permanently at 17. “Castor oil diya (lamp) were lit after sunset. There were no toothbrushes, toothpaste, showers, or even tap water in Modi’s household. Teeth were brushed with crushed neem twigs. A clay pot of water was a luxury in summer when wells dried up. Modi thus grew up in a household that was in that twilight zone between poor and lower middle class. Not starving yet barely surviving," Desai’s book has mentioned.

The author writes that even those who adore or admire Narendra Modi, do not realise the extent of his sacrifice. “As a child of nine years, Narendra would instinctively realise that even though he still felt hungry, he should not help himself to another roti or ask for two more spoons of dal, for if he did so, his mother who ate the leftovers after everyone had finished, would go to bed on an empty stomach," the book adds.

Critics of Modi

A section of the intellectual elite in India has just not been able to decode Narendra Modi, the book says.

“What the elite fails to appreciate is that Modi has triggered a structural change in the dynamics of the political landscape of India, which ensures that, in the medium term, the probability of dislodging a highly disciplined party promoting a nationalist agenda, is minimal. The elite has consistently been allergic, not only to Narendra Modi, but also to the likes of Vallabhbhai Patel and Morarji Desai. The elite cannot digest a rustic son of the soil who knows the pulse of the people. A person who has not received a classic English education or who speaks with a vernacular accent is looked down upon. Not one of us, they think," Desai writes.

Narendra Modi, as a serious prime ministerial contender, was on nobody’s radar in 2009, the book says. “At times, when greater forces wish to propel someone suddenly to power, the public consciousness is altered to become oblivious to the possibility of such a person’s rise," Desai writes.

The elite has still not realised that even beyond Modi, India wants its prime minister to be a nationalist and that the emergence of the Hindu nation as a civilisational and cultural way of life is inevitable, the book says.

Modi’s Big Moves

Desai says that the timing and the nature of the Supreme Court judgement reinforces this belief that Modi’s mission has always been under some kind of spiritual protection. “As if destiny had decreed that the temple would be inaugurated and constructed, after more than four centuries, only when Narendra Modi was in full command," Desai says.

The post-Pahalgam military response of India in May 2025, with its escalatory dynamics, marks a shift in India’s military strategy, the book says. “So far, it was a doctrine of strategic restraint placing priority on avoiding escalation. Narendra Modi has adopted for the first time a strategy of calculated pressure calibrated to avoid a full-scale war but resolved to impose decisive costs on Pakistan," Desai writes.

The book says Narendra Modi will be credited for launching the most scientific and systematic onslaught on poverty through development and an enhanced Welfare State, on a scale hitherto unknown in India. “During 11 years, 25 crore Indians have been pulled out of poverty," the book adds.

Narendra Modi aspires for India to be an egalitarian society, Desai writes. “By 2035, he believes that the Direct Benefit Transfer system will include delivery to each underserved citizen of universal basic services like health, insurance, and education through vouchers. He is pushing for outcome-based fund transfers, which are tied to tangible learning and health metrics. And the cause dearest to his heart, of women welfare, wants to see half of the new net jobs going to women," the book adds.

Desai writes that the effusive love of his people energises Narendra Modi making him look daisy fresh at 8:30 PM after a gruelling day begun at 4 AM, during which he has flown in and out of Delhi and participated in a dozen meetings. “And this has been going on for the last 24 years without a single break," the book says.

Aman Sharma

Aman Sharma, News Director For CNN News18 and News18 English, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office. He has written widely on politics, ele...Read More

Aman Sharma, News Director For CNN News18 and News18 English, has over two decades of experience in covering the wide spectrum of politics and the Prime Minister’s Office. He has written widely on politics, ele...

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