User:Saudamini Shah/Jashodaben Chimanlal

JASHODABEN CHIMANLAL Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi wife of The Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi.

ABOUT
In Brahmanwada village, near the ancient town of Vadnagar in Mehsana district,Jashodaben or Jassiben , as she is known locally, is the grandmother, who spends most of her time reading religious books and is popular among children for distributing prasad every day. At 62, she has no children or grandchildren of her own to keep her busy. Her husband, Narendra Modi, the 64-year-old prime minister of India, hardly met her after their wedding in 1968, and after three years, never returned.

Jashodaben does not enjoy any privileges. She has to sweep and clean her house, fill water, use a public toilet,cook her meals and wash her own clothes.She does not have any domestic help.

APPEARANCE
She is clad in an ill-fitting blouse and a mod­est printed sari.Somewhat stooped, her face is wrinkled,her hands have obviously seen hard times and her hair is pulled back in a tight bun,making her look severe. Dirt grips the cracks of her slipper-clad feet. She could have been any woman in Rajosana village, Gujarat. But then, she is [Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi]. Everyone in this village knows her as Narendra Modi’s wife.

RESIDENCE
Though Jashodaben earns a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, she lives in a one-room tenement in the Panchalvas area in the village, and pays a rent of Rs 150 every month.The 100 sq ft room has a tin roof, no toilets, and not even a bathroom.The tap is located outside the house. According to the vil­lagers,Jashodaben wakes up very early and takes a bath outside the house.

Despite the fact that she can afford a better life, she has chosen to stay in a somewhat im­poverished village,in a sympathetic and help­ful neighbourhood.Here, her story is known to all. Even the children of her school refer to her as 'Narendrabhai Modi’s wife’.

EDUCATION
People close to her say that she was married to Modi in his native village,Vadnagar, in Mehsana district, when she was 18. At the time of her mar­riage, she had studied only up to Class VII. That is believed to have put a strain on their marriage. (Also, according to a villager, Jashodaben does not like to be photographed as she believes she is not good looking.)A few days after the mar­riage,Jashodaben was sent back to her father Chimanlal’s house to complete her education.As those who know her say, in a bid to please her husband and measure up to his exacting stand­ards,she started studying in Dholaka and com­pleted her SSC (old pattern) in 1972.Then she completed a primary teachers course and worked in Ahmedabad for three months.

CURRENT PROFESSION
The 62-year-old Jashudaben Modi is now a retired school teacher in Brahmanwada village. Reports say she lives on monthly government pension of Rs 14,000 and leads a family life with her brothers Kamlesh and Ashok.According to reports, post retirement she has become a religious woman and spends most of her time praying but also helps one of her brothers run a grocery store

MARRIAGE
Jashodaben was married to Narendra Modi when both were around 17 – 18 in the year 1968 and separated after about three years but never divorced.

RELATIONSHIP
There is not much information about Jashodaben but according to her rare interviews given to some news organisations,she never said something wrong about Modi.During the interview Jashodaben accepted that she read every news item about her husband but had lost hope of reuniting with him. But she believed that Narendra Modi will become prime minister of India one day, and has been praying for it every day.

Though Modi declared Jashodaben as his wife, he doesn’t have much information about her. In a poll affidavit,Modi has said that he has no information about his wife’s assets and other details.

SEPARATION
Jashodaben, 62, a retired school teacher, was married to Narendra Modi when she was 17 and separated after about 3 years.She says that they parted on good terms.

ASTRONOMY
“Since she is a member of the Swaminarayan sect, she does not eat onion and garlic, and eats only twice a week. Recently, she gave up rice, and is now on a barefoot pilgrimage, as part of her vow to see Narendra bhai as PM,” says her niece Sonal, showing photos of Jashodaben at her own wedding last year.

While the media was looking for Jashodaben, it is reported that she has left on a pilgrimage after Narendra Modi’s acceptance.

The family claims that she is on Char Dham yatra and will be back on May 17, a day after the elections results will be declared, her whereabouts have not been known ever since Modi filed his nomination papers. An astrologer had apparently told her that she would one day be accepted by her estranged husband.

PUBLICLY DECLARATION
On April 9, more than four decades after their marriage, Modi finally acknowledged Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi as his wife,

as Jashodaben Narendra Modi, when filing his nomination for the Vadodara parliamentary constituency and recently, for the Varanasi constituency, prodded by a Supreme Court judgment that requires candidates to fill in all the columns in the nomination form. Since the marriage was never registered, all the official documents mention her maiden name.

POLITICAL ISSUES
Opposition parties have always been criticising Narendra Modi over his marriage and why he did not accept his wife. There would always be a question mark over why he did not accept her until now.

INTERVIEW
An interview by THE INDIAN EXPRESS

For how long were you married and what is the status of the marriage?

We married when I was 17... I had quit studies once I went to his place and remember him saying he wanted me to pursue my education. He would mostly talk to me about completing my education. Initially he took interest in talking to me and even in the affairs of the kitchen.

'''Do you feel burdened by the relationship, especially when the media asks you about your strained relationship? Are you instructed to remain low profile?'''

We have never been in touch and we parted on good terms as there were never any fights between us. I will not make up things that are not true. In three years, we may have been together for all of three months. There has been no communication from his end to this day.

Do you feel slighted that your status as a wife has not been acknowledged by him in all these years?

No. I don’t feel bad, because I know that he is doing so due to destiny and bad times. In such situations he has to say such things and also has to lie. I don’t see my situation as being bad because I feel, in a way, my luck has improved too.

How do you spend your retired days?

I enjoyed teaching and taught classes from the first to fifth grade and taught all subjects. Nowadays,I mostly start my day by 4 am and begin with prayers to Ambe Ma (Goddess Durga). I spend all my time in Bhakti (prayer). I mostly live with my elder brother Ashok Modi who lives in Unjha but I keep visiting the home of my other brother who lives in Brahman Vada near Unjha whenever I feel like. I feel I have got good brothers who have supported me.