Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched his memoir, 'Apnapan: Narendra Modi Sang Mere Anubhav', in New Delhi, offering a glimpse into his 35-year association with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
One story that drew laughs was the day a roomful of BJP leaders had no idea what an email ID was.
Speaking at the book launch, Chouhan recalled an early meeting in Madhya Pradesh, purportedly in the 1990s, when Modi had visited the state as the party's state affairs in-charge.
Modi asked a simple question, 'who has an email ID?', but the response was silence, with one leader, Babulal Gaur, breaking the quiet with: 'Narendra bhai, what 'female female' are you talking about?'
The moment, however, was less about the comedy and more about what it revealed of Modi, according to Chouhan.
At a time when mobile phones were considered a marker of 'five-star culture' in BJP circles, Modi was already asking his colleagues to get email IDs, Chouhan noted.
Chouhan's association with Modi goes back to 1991, when the two worked together on the 'Ekta Yatra', a cross-country march led by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
