We've already seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi do a rockstar impression at New York's Madison Square Garden on September 29, where he spoke to a raucous, sold-out audience. On Monday, Modi did a repeat performance on the other side of the planet.
"I am not worthy of this enthusiastic welcome," Modi told a huge crowd at Sydney's Allphones Arena. "The 1.2 billion Indians deserve it... this sight in Sydney is revolutionising all of India."
Both the 90-minute speeches went over very similar territory, from focusing on the Indian community and visas, to his very own “clean India campaign”. But a few differences stood out.
Attendance: The Allphones Arena was attended by 16,000 people, with about 5,000 people watching on large screens outside.
Madison Square Garden packed in roughly 20,000 non-resident Indians.
News Channels: The event in the United States brought with it news anchors from all channels in India including Times Now’s Arnab Goswami, who ran a studio for the whole week from New York City. There was live news broadcasts leading up to the event, during the event and after the event, each channel had a long list of interviews with prominent Indians and chat shows that ran for hours.
The event in Australia had none of it. The speech was barely even announced on television. As Modi’s speech got over, breaking news came from the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal. Every channel but Headlines Today switched away from Australia and to the Supreme Court and the fallout of the report.
Protests and scuffles: Just before the event at Madison Square Garden, there was a scuffle outside involving Headlines Today consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai and fans of Prime Minister Modi. From Sikh protestors to Hindus and Muslim people protesting against Modi and the Gujarat riots, Madison Square Garden saw it all.
This was in stark difference to the peaceful protests carried out in Sydney by about 500 members of the Sikh community.
Political representatives: At the Madison Square Garden event, about 50 United States Congressmen and Senators came up on stage just before Modi was to begin his speech.
At the Allphones Arena, not a single Australian Member of Parliament showed up on stage.
Cultural extravaganza: Both events had Indians tugging at their cultural roots. Both had dances prior to the speech and even some singing. The national anthem, played twice at Madison Sqaure Garden was only played once during the Allphones Arena event.
The real rockers: Before Modi’s speech at the sell-out crowd, Allphones Arena has been host to famous bands like Rolling Stones and The Eagles.
At Madison Square Garden, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel among others have played sold-out concerts.
Hashtags: During Modi's visit to the United States, #ModiAtMadison, #ModinUS and #ModiatMadison trended for days.
During his time in Austrlia, #ModiInAutralia and #SydneyStorm have been trending on Twitter.
The speech: Modi talked about merging the PIO and OCI cards for non-resident Indians at both speeches along with his “Swachh Bharat” campaign. He offered Australians visas on arrivals when they came to India but didn’t make any such promises to the Americans.
During his speech at the Allphones Arena he said, “I need to make small contributions, for small people, and to make small people reach big feats.” He had echoed a similar sentiment back at Madison Sqaure Garden: “I am a small man.”
Modi talked about non-resident Indians being a part of India even though they aren’t physically present. “When will India become like the country where I am living in now?” Back at Madison Square Garden he promised Indian-Americans that he would deliver the India of their dreams.
“I invite you to come 'Make in India,'” said Modi at Madison Square Garden. At Allphones Arena, he reiterated his campaign, “We are changing the laws to make investment easier in India. I want the youth in the country to get more jobs. I request people from across the world to invest in India, to be a part of ‘Make in India.’”
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"I am not worthy of this enthusiastic welcome," Modi told a huge crowd at Sydney's Allphones Arena. "The 1.2 billion Indians deserve it... this sight in Sydney is revolutionising all of India."
Both the 90-minute speeches went over very similar territory, from focusing on the Indian community and visas, to his very own “clean India campaign”. But a few differences stood out.
Attendance: The Allphones Arena was attended by 16,000 people, with about 5,000 people watching on large screens outside.
Madison Square Garden packed in roughly 20,000 non-resident Indians.
News Channels: The event in the United States brought with it news anchors from all channels in India including Times Now’s Arnab Goswami, who ran a studio for the whole week from New York City. There was live news broadcasts leading up to the event, during the event and after the event, each channel had a long list of interviews with prominent Indians and chat shows that ran for hours.
The event in Australia had none of it. The speech was barely even announced on television. As Modi’s speech got over, breaking news came from the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal. Every channel but Headlines Today switched away from Australia and to the Supreme Court and the fallout of the report.
Protests and scuffles: Just before the event at Madison Square Garden, there was a scuffle outside involving Headlines Today consulting editor Rajdeep Sardesai and fans of Prime Minister Modi. From Sikh protestors to Hindus and Muslim people protesting against Modi and the Gujarat riots, Madison Square Garden saw it all.
This was in stark difference to the peaceful protests carried out in Sydney by about 500 members of the Sikh community.
Political representatives: At the Madison Square Garden event, about 50 United States Congressmen and Senators came up on stage just before Modi was to begin his speech.
At the Allphones Arena, not a single Australian Member of Parliament showed up on stage.
Cultural extravaganza: Both events had Indians tugging at their cultural roots. Both had dances prior to the speech and even some singing. The national anthem, played twice at Madison Sqaure Garden was only played once during the Allphones Arena event.
The real rockers: Before Modi’s speech at the sell-out crowd, Allphones Arena has been host to famous bands like Rolling Stones and The Eagles.
At Madison Square Garden, Bob Dylan and Simon & Garfunkel among others have played sold-out concerts.
Hashtags: During Modi's visit to the United States, #ModiAtMadison, #ModinUS and #ModiatMadison trended for days.
During his time in Austrlia, #ModiInAutralia and #SydneyStorm have been trending on Twitter.
The speech: Modi talked about merging the PIO and OCI cards for non-resident Indians at both speeches along with his “Swachh Bharat” campaign. He offered Australians visas on arrivals when they came to India but didn’t make any such promises to the Americans.
During his speech at the Allphones Arena he said, “I need to make small contributions, for small people, and to make small people reach big feats.” He had echoed a similar sentiment back at Madison Sqaure Garden: “I am a small man.”
Modi talked about non-resident Indians being a part of India even though they aren’t physically present. “When will India become like the country where I am living in now?” Back at Madison Square Garden he promised Indian-Americans that he would deliver the India of their dreams.
“I invite you to come 'Make in India,'” said Modi at Madison Square Garden. At Allphones Arena, he reiterated his campaign, “We are changing the laws to make investment easier in India. I want the youth in the country to get more jobs. I request people from across the world to invest in India, to be a part of ‘Make in India.’”
