A painter carries Narendra Modi’s portrait after making it in front of the crowd at Madison Square Garden on Sunday; (below) artistes perform at the event. (PTI)

One surprise that awaits Barack Obama on Monday is how well Narendra Modi knows America. No Indian politician has travelled coast to coast stateside as the Prime Minister. He has visited 29 of America’s 50 states.

Few foreigners have covered that much ground within the US. With the solitary exception of former ambassador Ronen Sen, no Indian diplomat posted to the US has visited more than half of America’s states as Modi has done. For that matter, not many Americans have seen such a vast terrain of their own country.

Modi told some Gujarati Americans this week that he would like to see the extent of change in the US since his whirlwind tour of 29 states when he was young. But his current itinerary includes only New York and Washington, which represent a very small slice of America.

Red eye? Not Modi

Indian Americans who met Modi informally during his stay in New York have concluded that his enterprising ways as Gujarat’s chief minister represent personality traits and not something that politicians carefully cultivate.

The Prime Minister told one of them that when he decided to visit the US for the first time two decades ago, he did not have much money. So he decided to invest $500, which was big money in those days, in a Delta Airlines ticket — not unlike tales of many Gujaratis who came to the US with very little money and became millionaires by putting their few dollars to best use.

Those “See America” air travel coupons made it possible for Modi to visit more than half of this vast land cheaply. During a whole month that Modi continuously travelled across the US, he often took “red eye” flights to save on hotel bills. That meant taking late-night flights that arrive at destinations early morning: passengers who cannot sleep on planes get red eyes from lack of rest, but not Modi, the Indian American was told.

A red eye flight from Washington to San Francisco, for example, could give an intrepid traveller like Modi some five hours sleep on a plane, not on a hotel bed.

Trim tips

At the White House, there will be competition between the President and the First Lady to quiz Modi on the pet schemes that define their respective public personas, assuming they meet him together.

Michelle Obama cannot wait to ask Modi about his Navratri fast and its impact on his physique, according to White House sources. Obesity, which is like an epidemic in America, has become an obsession with the First Lady and a lot of her time is spent on making schoolchildren cut down on fatty foods and on giving up aerated drinks, whose manufacturers use lobbies to promote them.

Can fasting help fight obesity? She has already been told that Modi has been observing his seasonal religious fast for 45 years without a break. Maybe, Modi and Michelle can partner in some school effort.If not, she can at least take a leaf out of his book during this year’s Teachers’ Day when the Prime Minister was a hit with many school kids back home.

Good neighbour

Obama, on the other hand, will want to ask questions about the new BJP-led government’s foreign policy initiatives which already have a Modi stamp on them.

When some of his officials tried to tutor Modi on strategic issues, the Prime Minister verbalised his views in simple logical terms. Both in real life and in diplomacy, it is inevitable that you are either very close to your neighbours or you have many problems with them. That is why the neighbourhood should not be neglected.

Now you know why Modi chose Bhutan for his first foreign trip and then went to Nepal.

He also thinks problems will be less severe with distant countries and trade is easier. It is now clear this is how Modi will approach Obama at the White House. Familiarity breeds contempt, a typical case being Pakistan. But does distance make the heart grow fonder? We shall find out in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

The magnet

There was a time when visiting Indian leaders found it hard to get meetings with America’s senior leadership. What a change! Now leaders across the US are queuing up to meet the Prime Minister.

There was a gatecrasher at his New York Palace hotel suite yesterday. New Jersey governor Chris Christie had no appointment with Modi but he arrived anyway. Indian officials were, of course, accommodating. The victims of Christie’s gatecrash were Indian correspondents based in the US who had to cool their heels in a holding room while Christie took up almost three quarters of an hour with the Prime Minister. Modi has no regrets, though, that the New Jersey governor came along. Modi quizzed him closely on Hurricane Sandy, which wreaked havoc on the small east coast state recently.

The Prime Minister is keen to revamp India’s disaster management structure and Christie offered some valuable tips.

Gujarati cash

Christie’s detour to Modi’s Manhattan hotel may not entirely have been for altruistic reasons. New Jersey has a large Gujarati American population in electoral districts which can decide poll outcomes to the state’s legislature. Besides, these Gujaratis have deep pockets and Christie has been eyeing their funds for his elections.

A call on Modi sits well with Gujarati Americans. Christie’s management of Sandy relief operations were in sharp contrast to the George W. Bush administration’s disastrous handling earlier of Hurricane Katrina on the American Gulf coast. Success with post-Sandy rehabilitation has catapulted Christie to a possible White House run despite some setbacks over misuse of power by his aides.

So, all the more, the New Jersey governor needs Indian American votes, their money, the jobs and commerce in New Jersey which Indian companies already provide.