New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- Eight months after a devastating earthquake reduced large parts of Kutch in Gujarat to rubble on January 26, 2001, Narendra Modi received a call from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership that would change the direction of his life and the political trajectory of India.

Then a 51-year-old national general secretary (organisation) of the party, Modi was involved in the relief and rehabilitation work in the aftermath of the tragedy that killed nearly 20,000 people.

Weeks later on October 7, dressed in his trademark short-sleeve kurta, Modi was sworn in by governor Surendra Singh Bhandari as the 14th chief minister of Gujarat, replacing his party colleague and mentor-turned-bete noire Keshubhai Patel. The date ...