Modi’s Melody-Melony Magic: A Twist In Indian Diplomacy

Gifts are perhaps the oldest currency known to civilisation, older than coins, credit cards and cryptocurrency. The finest gift, sages insisted, was food. A hungry man can be pacified with a meal; a full stomach is the only known antidote to greed. Gold, on the other hand, merely sharpens the appetite. Indian mythology is one long cautionary tale about gifts and desires.

Bhima went in search of a rare flower for his beloved and returned with a bruised ego after Hanuman, disguised as an aged monkey, taught him that muscles are no substitute for humility. Ram chased a golden deer because Sita fancied it, and the subcontinent ended up with a war large enough to sustain television serials for decades.

Sudama’s lesson and the politics of gifting

Yet, the most touching story remains that of Sudama, or Kuchela, the impoverished classmate of Krishna. Persuaded by his wife, Sudama trudged to Krishna’s palace carrying the only worthy gift he could afford — a humble pouch of puffed rice. Krishna seized a fistful with delight and, by the time Sudama returned home, the hut had transformed into a palace, and poverty had quietly vacated the premises.

No Indian politician could possibly be unaware of this story, least of all Narendra Modi, whose native Gujarat houses perhaps the country’s grandest temple dedicated to Sudama at Porbandar. One suspects that he recalled this tale while preparing for his Italian visit to meet Giorgia Meloni.

True, Modi is hardly a Sudama arriving at the gates of prosperity with borrowed slippers and a trembling heart. India today announces, every fortnight or so, its ambition to become the world’s third-largest economy after the United States and China.

Italy may appear a fading empire, but Indians have an old saying: even a skeletal elephant cannot be tied inside a cowshed. Rome once ruled continents when most modern nations were still arguing over goats and grain.

Diplomatic etiquette, therefore, required a gift worthy of the occasion. During a visit to Japan, Modi carried an ornate edition of the Bhagavad Gita so luxurious that the recipient may have hesitated to touch it without ceremonial gloves.

A candy becomes a diplomatic symbol

Italy, however, required a different civilisational strategy. The recipient was a lady, and there are some truths that transcend geopolitics, trade deficits and G20 communiqués.

Nobody is too old to receive chocolate. So instead of scriptures embossed like royal decrees, Modi arrived with a packet of Melody, that gloriously modest chocolate-filled caramel candy.

Cheap, cheerful and defiantly Made in India, Melody succeeded where think tanks and cultural exchanges often fail. Meloni not only accepted it but reportedly certified that it melted in the mouth like Swiss chocolate. Thus was born perhaps the sweetest diplomatic headline of recent years: Meloni had finally found her match in Melody.

Published on: Friday, May 22, 2026, 09:36 PM IST