What PM Modi asked Humans of Bombay founder during a 2019 interview

Karishma Mehta met PM Modi for an interview in 2019. (Image shared by Karishma Mehta on LinkedIn)

When Humans of Bombay founder Karishma Mehta sat down for a short interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two connected instantly over a common ground – Gujarat.

PM Modi greeted the then 27-year-old with a curt “Kem cho Mehta ji?” (How are you Ms Mehta), the Humans of Bombay CEO wrote in a LinkedIn post today chronicling her experience.

The interview lasted 22 minutes, which Mehta says “changed the trajectory” of her career. Her company regularly shares stories of common people, their struggles and aspirations on their website and social media handles that often go viral.

Karishma Mehta adds that the interview with the PM may have given her website a lot of recognition, but it also got them hate.

“What followed was recognition for our work, yes, but also a whirlwind of hate (the cover of a popular youth magazine put us on the cover with a scathing title), accusations and a whole lot of unidirectional slander,” Mehta wrote.

“I guess that was the point in my life that I learned silence is golden and the handwork should always do the talking. Will share my experience of the interview another time, but the first thing he asked me was, ‘Kem cho Mehta ji?’” she concluded the post.

Humans of Bombay released a 5-part interview of PM Modi back in 2019 that chronicled his childhood days and struggles, his stint working at his father’s tea stall, his first RSS meeting at age 8, and his ambitions in part 1.

The other parts talk about when he left home for two years to go to the Himalayas, live with sadhus and spend time at Ramkrishna Mission. The Prime Minister also spoke about his transition to a full time RSS ‘pracharak’ and his 5-day Diwali trips to a jungle where he would focus on his ‘alone time’ and reflect on life.

He also spoke about his mother, her sacrifices in his childhood and how it was a bigger milestone for her when he became the chief minister of Gujarat rather than the PM.

“A lot of people ask me how my mother felt when I became PM, but by then the name ‘Modi’ was in the air, my photos were being printed and there was a lot of excitement all over. But I think the bigger milestone for her, was when I became CM... To be honest I don’t think she knew what the post was about. My mother just looked at me, hugged me and said, ‘The best thing is that you will be back in Gujarat now!’ -- such is a mother’s nature, that no matter what’s going on around her, she wants to be close to her children,” PM Modi had said in his interview to Karishma Mehta.