Modi to Australia: India is the answer

Editor's note: Ravi Agrawal is CNN's New Delhi Bureau chief. Follow him on Twitter: @RaviAgrawalCNN. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

New Delhi (CNN) -- Let's hear it for "the man of the moment, the man of the millennium."

That man is Narendra Modi, and those are the words with which an Australian public servant introduced India's Prime Minister in Brisbane on Sunday.

"Modi, Modi, Modi," chanted the crowd.

Ravi Agrawal

The adulation didn't end there. The next day, Modi was in Sydney, delivering a speech to an audience of 16,000 at the Allphones Arena.

"You're a rock star!" shrieked an excited fan as the event beamed across millions of television screens in India and around the world. And so it was that #Rockstar and #ModiInAustralia began trending on Twitter.

Tuesday: new city, new audience. Modi pitched up at theAustralian Parliament in Canberra. He spoke in English this time, highlighting the linguistic and cultural commonalities between India and Australia -- almost as if to suggest India was a better trading partner than China.

 

Can Modi fix India's business blues?

 

India's Modi courts U.S.

 

Is Modi the world's most interesting man?

"Australia has immense opportunities to participate in India's progress. ... India will be the answer to your search for new economic opportunities," Modi declared.

Is India really the one-stop answer? And is Modi really the man of the millennium?

The hype seems to be reaching dangerous levels.

There's no denying that Modi has generated immense excitement in India and abroad. Rightfully so. Here, finally, is an Indian leader who says the things Indians have been yearning to hear. He talks about faster growth, creating jobs, about a smartphone in every hand, a toilet in every home, clean streets, leaner and more transparent government.

And boy, can he talk. In Hindi, in Gujarati, in English, Modi seems to know exactly what his audience wants to hear. In that sense he is indeed a rock star, riffing on his key anthems at every big speech.

But can he deliver the runaway platinum sales Indians now seem to expect?

We're beginning to see the first signs of questions being asked.

Earlier this month, at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in New Delhi, top industrialist Anand Mahindra told CNN that Modi's "honeymoon period is over." When CNN spoke with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he seemed to dial back on expectations of big reforms, saying "people with their sense of wisdom will be able to appreciate" the cumulative effect of the government's smaller steps.

And then there are the questions of Modi himself.

At the inauguration of a hospital in Mumbai last month, Modi made a speech, played out live on many Indian TV channels. Curiously, one bit was ignored by the Indian press.

Speaking of the Hindu god Ganesha -- who is depicted as having an elephant's head -- Modi claimed that Ganesha's half-man, half-elephant body was evidence that ancient Indian doctors were experts at the art of plastic surgery.

Seriously?

The Indian TV anchor and journalist Karan Thapar was one of the few to raise an eyebrow.

"He believes in digital India, wants to import bullet trains and 'Make in India' state-of-the-art (defense) weaponry," Thapar wrote. "These are 21st-century ambitions. How does all of that sit alongside this belief in unverified mythology?"

He added, "The silence of the media is deeply disturbing. It feels as though it's been deliberately blanked out by everyone."

I doubt there's a larger media conspiracy only to portray Modi positively. But the media do need to take a step back and question the rock-star levels of adulation. Modi has gotten India dreaming.

Who knows, those dreams may even be realized one day. But in Modi's seven months as Prime Minister so far, rhetoric and big plans aside, nothing has really changed.

For hundreds of millions of poor Indians, it is still the same India. Basic infrastructure is still subpar; there are no social safety nets on health care or pensions; India is still an immensely frustrating place to live and work. And that's the tip of an enormous iceberg. India could take decades to change. We all need to remember that. So do Modi's fans.

千年的人嗎？
由拉維·阿格拉瓦爾， CNN
2014年11月18日 - 1945年更新GMT（0345 HKT）
觀看此視頻
莫迪澳大利亞：印度是答案
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
納倫德拉·莫迪，印度總理，繼續吸引稱讚他的演講
拉維·阿格拉瓦爾說，總理會談有關問題說事，特別是就業機會
他說，一些人認為它的時間來匹配言辭與行動
阿格拉瓦爾：人要有切合實際的期望; 它可能需要幾十年才能改變印度
編者按：拉維·阿格拉瓦爾是CNN的新德里分社社長。按照他的Twitter：@RaviAgrawalCNN。表示本評論的意見僅代表作者本人。
新德里（CNN） -讓我們來聽聽它的“當下的人，千年的男人。”
這名男子是納倫德拉·莫迪，而這些都是詞與澳大利亞的公務員引入了印度總理在布里斯班週日。
“莫迪，莫迪，莫迪，”呼喊的人群。
拉維·阿格拉瓦爾
拉維·阿格拉瓦爾
阿諛奉承並沒有就此結束。第二天，莫迪在悉尼發表講話，向觀眾16000在宏基競技場。
“你是個搖滾明星！” 尖叫著興奮的球迷作為事件橫梁橫跨數以百萬計的電視屏幕在印度和世界各地。因此，這是#Rockstar和#ModiInAustralia趨勢開始在Twitter上。
週二：新的城市，新的觀眾。莫迪仰在澳大利亞議會在堪培拉。他以英語發言這段時間，突出印度和澳大利亞之間的語言和文化的共性-彷彿暗示印度比中國更好的貿易夥伴。
莫迪可以解決印度的業務布魯斯？ 印度莫迪求婚美國 莫迪是世界上最有趣的人？
“澳大利亞有巨大的機會參與印度的進展。......印度將回答你的新的經濟機會搜索，”莫迪宣布。
是印度真正的一站式的答案？並且是莫迪真的千年的人嗎？
炒作似乎達到了危險的程度。
不可否認的莫迪產生了無比激動的心情在印度和國外。這是理所當然的。在這裡，最後，是一位印度領導人說，誰的事情印度人一直渴望聽到的。他談到了較快的增長，創造就業機會，有關智能手機在每一個方面，每家廁所，乾淨的街道，更精簡，更透明的政府。
男孩，可他說話。在印地文，古吉拉特語，英語，莫迪似乎確切地知道他的聽眾想聽到的。在這個意義上，他的確是一個搖滾明星，在每一個大的講話riffing他的關鍵國歌。
但他能否帶來失控的鉑金銷售印度人現在似乎期望？
我們開始看到被問的問題的第一個跡象。
本月早些時候，在世界經濟論壇在新德里的場邊，頂實業家阿南德馬辛德拉告訴CNN說，莫迪的“蜜月期已經結束。” 當CNN與評價印度財政部長阿倫Jaitley，他似乎撥回大改革的期待，他說：“人用自己的智慧感就能體會到”政府的小步的累積效應。
再有莫迪自己的問題。

在孟買上個月一家醫院就職，莫迪發表講話，起到了活在許多印度電視頻道。奇怪的是，一位被印度媒體忽略。
在談到印度神象頭神的 - 誰被描繪為具有大象的頭 - 莫迪宣稱，象頭神的半人半象的身體證據表明，古印度的醫生都是專家，在整形外科的藝術。
真的嗎？
印度電視主播兼記者卡蘭塔帕爾是為數不多的以提高眉毛。
“他認為，在數字印度要進口子彈頭列車和”使印度“國家的最先進的（防守）武器，”塔帕爾寫道。“這些都是21世紀的雄心。怎麼都坐旁邊這個信念，在未經證實的神話？”
他補充說，“媒體的沉默是深感不安。這感覺就好像是被故意空白由每一個人。”
我懷疑有一個更大的陰謀媒體只描繪莫迪積極。但媒體確實需要退後一步，並質疑搖滾明星級別的奉承。莫迪已經得到了印度的夢想。
誰知道，這些夢想甚至有可能實現的一天。但在莫迪的七個月總理，到目前為止，修辭和大計劃之外，什麼都沒有真正改變。
對於數以百萬計的印度窮人的，它仍然是相同的印度。基礎設施依然欠佳; 還有在醫療或退休金沒有社會安全網; 印度仍然是生活和工作的一個非常令人沮喪的地方。這就是一個巨大的冰山一角。印度可能需要幾十年才能改變。我們都需要記住這一點。所以做莫迪的球迷。