As I write this, I must confess that I have been one of those who have not just questioned our prime minister’s past, but also his ability to lead the nation. But something happened on March 22 that changed me: I saw the ebullience of our people, the sense of celebratory accomplishment of defeating the enemy that is coronavirus, and something moved in me. Here, I will try and break it down for those who still suffer, as I did, from not believing in the messianic appeal of the man that is Narendra Damodardas Modi.

No one can deny the beauty of a simple idea, and any of us who has had to sit through a reading of an academic paper knows how convoluted academic jargon can get. Therefore, one sympathises with the prime minister when he says hard work has more value than Harvard. However, sometimes the hard work of pushing against a wall goes unaccounted for, as physics (a Harvard invention) defines work done as force multiplied by displacement. Therefore, some may look at all the work done behind demonetisation or the great “corona thaali banging” as a big zero, because physics. But physics is a Harvardian thing and not something taught in the school of life where the power of our collective prayers reigns supreme.

See, Modi has been educated in the school of hard knocks, that is, he has learned less from books and more from life. He made it amply clear in his now famous phrase where he mentioned that he relies more on hard work than on Harvard. That a lot of the people who worked in this administration, from Raghuram Rajan to Arvind Subramanian, left due to differences of opinion also indicates that Modi relies not on outsider input like a nerd-puppet but on his gut instincts like a man, a simple single-celled man.

It might seem to the nonbeliever that nothing concrete was achieved from either demonetisation or the great corona utensil banging. But can one deny the effect of people across class coming together as a community to perform an almost religious exercise of invoking change from our past behaviour and moving to a better future?

In the case of demonetisation, it was the act of changing your old currency to a new one while the black money hoarders couldn’t. In the corona banging, it was about staying indoors for half a day and then coming out in a community celebration of victory over the virus. Of course, both events, while seeming innocently novel and harbinger of change, did in case of demonetisation and could in the case of the utensil banging lead to a scenario where a lot of people must suffer or die for nothing. But isn’t it all about the persuasive power of a simple idea, that no matter what happens to India from here on, we shall fight back together with the loudest of bangs, louder and with more celebratory fireworks than the Hindenburg.

It is only our prime minister and his mediapersons who can present even the Hindenburg as a light and fireworks show, and that is what hard work not Harvard will get you.

The greatest benefit of mimicking the ritualistic aspect of religion, as we did with this big bang, is that it helps people feel like they have done something without doing anything. It also makes people feel as if the government is alert and active despite it not taking concrete steps towards the overall safety of the nation. This group festivity is an ornamental act that will stay with people and make them feel something is being done. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic must count for something, after all?

Looking at Whatsapp forwards, one has to say that Modi has indeed made all of us fill our hearts and gut with immense pride. This festivity allows the Ambanis and the Bachchans and all of us privileged enough to keep living our lives in relative comfort to feel as if we contributed. I am sure Modi feels the same way.

The greatest gift Modi has given the privileged is importing religious rituals into public life, be it this act of festivity around corona or the standing in a queue to get new currency in the past. Mukesh Bhai can stand on his terrace and bang all his pots and pans, and the PM can make a Bollywoodesque scene of his mother queuing up to get her currency converted because these acts require nothing from them and yet have an impact: they can make ordinary people feel they are on an equal footing with those the extent of whose privilege they can’t even comprehend.