Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he is not aware when, but the habit of dressing neatly has been there since childhood. He cited the example of his white canvas shoes, as a schoolgoing child, to illustrate the point.

“My early life was spent in extreme poverty. But we never really felt the burden of poverty. You see, someone who is used to wearing fine shoes will feel their absence when they don’t have them. But for us, we had never worn shoes in our lives,” PM Modi told podcast host Lex Fridman, adding these “challenging circumstances of living in scarcity never left a mark on our minds”.

The Prime Minister, who won a record third term last year, recounted how he once ran into his uncle who was surprised to see him going to school without shoes. 

“While I was on my way to school, I ran into my uncle on the way. He saw me and was surprised, ‘Hey! You go to school like this? Without shoes?’ So at that time, he bought me a pair of canvas shoes and made me wear them. Back then, they must have cost around 10 or 12 rupees. But here’s the thing, they were white canvas shoes, and they would quickly get stained,” reflected PM Modi.

Having received the shoes, the next worry that gripped him was how to keep them clean. 

“In the evening, after school was over, I would stay back for a while. I would go from classroom to classroom, collecting leftover pieces of chalk that the teachers had discarded. I would take the pieces of chalk home, soak them in water, mix them into a paste, and polish my canvas shoes with it, making them bright white again,” said the Prime Minister, detailing his efforts.

“For me, those shoes were a treasured possession, a symbol of great wealth. And I don’t exactly know why, but from childhood, our mother was extremely particular about cleanliness. Perhaps that’s where we inherited that habit too,” he added.

The Prime Minister also detailed how managed to keep his clothes ironed despite having no such arrangements. 

“Not sure how I picked up the habit of dressing neatly, but it’s been there since childhood. Whatever I wore, I made sure it looked proper. Back then, as you can imagine, we didn’t have any arrangements for ironing clothes. So instead, I would heat up water in a copper pot, hold it with tongs, and press my clothes myself. Then, I’d head off to school. That’s how I lived, and I found joy in it,” said the Prime Minister. 

PM Modi emphasised that he embraced every phase of life with gratitude and never viewed poverty as a struggle.

“We never thought about being poor, or judged about how others lived, or what their struggles were. We lived carefree, enjoying whatever little we had, and kept working hard,” he said.