NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to take time off from his busy schedule to visit an ailing, 95 year-old Swami Atmasthnanda , president or head monk of the Ramkrishna Mission (RKM) at the Belur Math near Kolkata, as soon as he touches down in Kolkata for a two-day visit to the city on May 9. It is a promise that Modi has to keep with himself. The last time Modi was in Belur to meet the Swami was just before he became Prime Minister. He had promised to return.Not many know about the “prasadi” flower that Modi had in a pocket of his jacket when he took at the Rashtrapati Bhawan as Prime Minister on May 26, 2014. It had arrived along with a letter, all the way from Belur, from Swami Atmasthnanda with his blessings.Modi may not have been where he is today if at a young age he was not discouraged to take ’sanyas’ by a man, who has remained one of his guiding stars in life. Swami Atmasthananda headed the RKM ashram in Rajkot those days, when a young Narendra, inspired by the life of Swami Vivekananda, had reached his doorstep to take refuge at the ashram, after he returned from some years of wandering in the wilderness and wanted to train himself for a spiritual life.After spending some time at the ashram under the tutelage of Swami Atmasthananda, Modi told him that he wanted to become a monk. But the head monk at the Rajkot ashram told him that sanyas was not meant for him and also that the Rajkot ashram could not confer monkship and Modi would have to go to the RKM headquarters in Belur to pursue his wish.Atmasthnanda wrote a letter to the then president of the RKM Swami Madhavananda and sent Modi with the letter to him in Belur. Madhavananda spoke also turned down Modi’s appeal and told him monkship was not meant for him, rather his area of work was meant to be among the people and not in seclusion.Modi returned to Gujarat and was back with his guru Swami Atmasthnanda at Rajkot for a while. Soon after this stint, he joined the Rashtraiya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and rest of his life in politics followed.The last time when Modi visited Swami Atmasthananda, he was still keeping well and the two had had a long conversation and the old monk had blessed Modi, who sat by his feet.When Modi returns to see the Swami, he may have to visit him in hospital as the head monk has been ailing for a while. But meanwhile, Modi has promised RKM a proper investigation into the theft of relics of Ramkrishna Paramhansa’s wife Ma Sarada, stolen from the museum in Belur Math and also to help RKM get a house where Swami Vivekananada had lived for some days in Aligarh, restored as an ashram. The PM will be going to Belur with all the updates on these two issues.