India is a richer nation today for knowing that its Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a mango lover. Indians, or those who watched his carefully constructed and faux casual conversation with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, also know whether the prime minister prefers to use a fork for his mangoes or draws out the juicy flesh with his hands and mouth.

Whoever thought that such edifying information would be necessary for us Indians, in the middle of sweltering heat and a scorching general election, added more illuminating factoids on a range of subjects. They covered:

• Modi’s anger management,
• Modi’s penchant for humour and castor oil-warm water remedy for a nasty cold,
• How Modi fashioned his half-sleeved kurta,
• How Modi’s childhood poverty made him feel “inferior” about his clothes,
• How Modi’s uncle gave him a pair of white canvas shoes for which he would wait till after school to pick up chalk remnants as polish,
• Why Modi wears his wrist watch the way he does,
• Modi’s leaving home early in life as an explanation for his detachment from his family,
• How Modi wanted to be a sanyasi and had never dreamed of becoming PM

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