THE MODI MEMORABILIA

Vadnagar, the railway station where Narendra Modi sold tea as a child, gets an impressive facelift and broad-gauge connectivity. It’s as much about immortalising the PM’s past as it is about nurturing the town’s present

- Rahul Noronha

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated a series of railway infrastructure projects around Ahmedabad on July 16, all eyes were fixed on the Gandhinagar Capital railway station, redeveloped with modern amenities and billed as world-class. Of the four other stations that got a facelift, as part of electrification and broad-gauge conversion of the 55-km long Mehsana-Varetha rail line, one stood out for its association with a VVIP politician and the legacy of his days as a ‘chaiwala’. Vadnagar station, where, the story goes, a young boy called Narendra used to help his father Damodardas Modi sell tea on the platform.

Modi has always worn the tea-seller identity on his sleeve, as a badge of his connect with the masses. For his ardent fans, the PM’s ‘chaiwala’ past symbolises every ordinary Indian’s rise to success against all odds. The older part of the refurbished Vadnagar station preserves this legacy.

In the old canteen, housed within a wood and metal structure, lies a table top with a small fireplace that would have run on coal or wood back in the day. It was here that Modi, till he was eight years old, helped his father run their tea stall. There are no pictures or memorabilia linking the PM to the place but it attracts many tourists and visitors. During his July 16 visit to Vadnagar station, railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw instructed officials to beautify the canteen. Railway officials say the canteen will be spruced up and enclosed within a glass structure.