From Nehru to Modi: US is the mission for Indian prime ministers

PM Narendra Modi could very well have said this last weekend in the US, "I am glad I had the opportunity to come here and see this place of which I had heard so much and for such a long time." Only, he did not say them, India’s first prime minister did — in November 1961, albeit also in California. Crucially, of course, Jawaharlal Nehru’s laudatory reference to that 'place' in California was not Silicon Valley but Hollywood. But then, as now, leading lights turned out in strength to meet the Indian statesman. However, it certainly is a testament to how much times have changed between India’s first PM and its 15th that California is now known more for technology than Technicolor. Therefore, if the celluloid 'stars' who met Nehru back then comprised Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando and the like, it is not surprising that Modi hobnobbed with California’s silicon stars, including a heartening complement of Indian-origin luminaries.

Nehru had pointed out their medium’s worldwide influence to Hollywood moguls back then; Modi did much the same to California’s tech moguls today. Add to that Indira Gandhi’s comment in Hindi on her 1982 trip to Los Angeles that Indians were doing well there and hoping they would also contribute towards the success of India, and there’s a definite sense of West Coast déjà vu.