Writing any sort of review of Bal Narendra: Childhood Stories of Narendra Modi is an act that seems unfair on many levels.

This comic book account of Modi’s childhood heroics was not written by Modi himself (it is to be hoped), and so any judgement about the man based on it would be wrong. It is a book for very young children, which means that any serious analysis would lead to conclusions being drawn that say more about the reviewer than the book. It does not claim to be completely true, or to be anything other than a hymn to Modi by Modi devotees and an attempt to inspire young people to be like him. Perhaps most importantly, it does not name its creators, so perhaps it is not even meant to be a book, more like a How To Be Like Young Modi leaflet. If not for the national obsession with the man and the need to feed trolls on the internet, it would probably have been completely ignored by any serious publication.

Infibeam announces the exclusive launch of Bal Narendra, a real life comic book based on the childhood of BJP Prime Minister candidature Mr Narendra Modi. Compassion, patriotism, selflessness, bravery, presence of mind and quick-wittedness are some of the values that Bal Narendra, a graphical collection of stories of Narendra Modi's childhood.
‘Bal Narendra’ comic book shows ‘fearless’ young Narendra Modi saving drowning boy, taking on crocodiles, bullies: IBNLive.com, March 27, 2014 Here are some untold stories of Bal Narendra.

Bal Narendra, the son of a tea-seller in a small town of Gujarat, embodies many virtues: courage, wit, diligence, fairness, compassion. He sells tea at a village fair to raise money for flood victims. In devotion to the religious tradition of his village, he swims across a lake full of crocodiles and hoists a flag on top of a temple on an island. Initially illustrated on paper, the sketches were then digitally polished using Adobe Flash and Corel Draw and Blue Snail has taken care of the fact that the book shouldn’t read fictional, “Major challenge was to ensure that the character definitely looks exactly like Bal Narendra and to maintain his face and look as a child because we had. Bal Chiktasalaya Dr Narendra Singh Gosain Tola Mirzapur Ph. 264115, Barnwal Nursing Home Dr. C.P.Barnwal Mussafar Ganj Mirzapur Ph. Deepshika Nursing Home Dr Sadhana Jaiswal Raidany Colony, Rambagh Mirzapur Ph. Sewa Hospital Dr. Arvind Srivastava Surekapuram, Bathua.

All that said, Bal Narendra is a deeply dull comic book that I cannot imagine any child voluntarily reading. Perhaps I know the wrong children, but this is the twenty-first century, and anything so slow, preachy and conflict-free is likely to tire out a child after the first few pages. I vaguely remember a birthday in the early 1980s when some well-intentioned relative had given me a similar book extolling the virtues of Young Indira Gandhi. YIG seemed nice and all that, but I really hated being told how good other children were, and the book was sadly lacking in treasure, monsters and fight scenes (though I suppose I could probably find them hidden inside the pages now if I were to re-read that book as an adult). It just didn’t work for me. And this was several decades before our current attention-deficit-disorder times.

Our pious hero, Bal Narendra, grows up in straitened circumstances, but overcomes them to become just the sort of young man every nation would be lucky to have leading them. In the process of doing so, he reads about Swami Vivekananda; cleans his house; takes care of his family; washes his clothes; cleans his new shoes with chalk; irons his clothes; wins at sports; kidnaps baby crocodiles (as one does), but returns them to their parents after his mother explains family ties to him; sprays ink on the shirts of bullies so his teachers can identify them (presumably he did not know their names); performs historical plays; fundraises for his school; wins at kabaddi; saves drowning friends (presumably from a different water body than the one with the crocodile family); bathes and clothes a sadhu; helps out at his father’s tea stall; feeds soldiers going to fight China; joins the National Cadet Corps; saves a pigeon and swims across a lake full of crocodiles (in the film version, the crocodiles will all be played by Sonu Sood); and writes a play that teaches people that the idea of untouchability is wrong, because Bal Narendra believes that “Everyone has the right to enjoy God’s world, no matter who they are or what their caste is.”

It is entirely possible, of course, that the real Narendra Modi was the kind of perfect young saint described in loving detail over the 47 pages of this graphic hagiography. But there are two clear inspirations behind Bal Narendra: first, another relic of the pre-liberalisation era, the Ideal Boy charts, which everyone of a certain age must remember. These are a series of single-page charts telling us what the Ideal Boy does—among other things, he loves his parents, prays, bathes regularly, performs chores, studies, performs acts of charity and, somewhat strikingly, joins the National Cadet Corps. Second, a form of Indian popular storytelling that has evolved in the current generation and is seen everywhere from Salman Khan blockbusters to squeaky-clean animation stories about young religious figures—a mostly plotless tale that consists of the hero smoothly triumphing over any obstacle laid in his path. It is the exact opposite of the dark, nuanced, complex narratives of old-school Indian folklore; even the stories of the Panchatantra, however deceptively simple, encourage conflict and debate rather than presenting a picture-perfect world full of Ideal Boys.

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My Authors

1. Let's be blunt, Bal Narendra appeals to a significant chunk of our population.
But what are his 'qualities'? What exactly appeals?
This is a man with no achievements to his credit, neither academic or literary, neither in the field of sports or anything else.

2. His political skills, which have been praised by many, are non-existent.
He was parachuted into power, appointed. There is not one speech in his many years in public worth recalling, he has not won even one debate, in either a state assembly or Parliament.

3. He cannot speak except with a prepared text and a pliable audience.
He was so scared of debate that during his time as CM the Gujarat Assembly functioned largely as a clearing house, as the Parliament does today.
His words, the venom included, are forgettable.

4. Of course back room 'management' is another thing altogether.
His bete noirs, like Haren Pandya, end up dead, and despite years and years of investigation (with the police reporting directly to him) the crime remains 'unresolved', rather like the Godhra case.

5. But then in a country when the media is owned by people who owe their power and position to nepotism, dominated by voices who have done not a shred of journalism worth recalling, this appeals.

6. To a corporate sector dominated by those that can 'fix' the rules, get tax breaks, free land, 'loans' that they don't have to pay back, weaned on corruption and altogether devoid of entrepreneurship, this appeals.

7. To hundreds of millions of young men, educated in a system of copy pasting, of 'Yes, mummy, yes, papa,' who know they can't stand on their own and compete, this appeals.

Bal Narendra Pdf

8. To a society used to structured inequality, to using privilege to deny talent, to pushing down with all their force so that they can stand on the heads of those less privileged, this appeals.

Bal Narendra Pdf Download

9. Bal Narendra exemplifies the idea that you can be an utter failure, that you can have no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but if you 'fix' the system, you'll be rewarded.
From farm to software, from industry to films, this is the story.
It needs to change.
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Bal Narendra Pdf

Those wondering when his failures will dethrone him - economic, diplomatic, social - misunderstand that this is his very appeal.
This is the Clown King of Resentful Losers, followed by a ragged band who despoil everything and build nothing except monuments to their folly.