Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his monthly radio program, Mann Ki Baat, has felt like a pilgrimage to him as it completed 12 years on air. Speaking in the 139th episode, Modi said the journey has given him a way to honor ordinary people who are doing exceptional work across fields throughout the country.

Modi opened by thanking the listeners who have stayed with the program since the beginning. Twelve years ago, on Vijayadashami, the broadcast started, and the journey has continued without interruption since then, he recalled. He addressed listeners as fellow travelers and sources of inspiration along that path.

The first Mann Ki Baat episode aired on October 3, 2014, on Vijayadashami, across the All India Radio and Doordarshan networks. Since that day, the program has gone out on the last Sunday of every month. Today’s episode marked the 139th installment of that run.

A pilgrimage, in his own words

Modi grounded his metaphor in India’s history. He said the country has a tradition of pilgrimages that stretches back centuries. For him, Mann Ki Baat is no less than that tradition, because it allows him to understand the efforts of the common people up close and to bow before their service.

He went further, describing people who live for society and for the nation as shrines in their own right. In his telling, the sacred places are not only temples and holy sites but the individuals who dedicate their lives to others.

That idea shaped how he described the show’s purpose. Mann Ki Baat, he said, is a remarkable opportunity to showcase the hard work, courage, dedication and spirit of service found among ordinary Indians. It is a platform that carries their stories beyond their own villages, towns and neighborhoods.

Stories that reached the nation

Over these 12 years, Modi said, the program has placed before the country the extraordinary work of many remarkable people whose contributions had not reached wider public attention. Each of those stories, he suggested, is a reminder of what citizens can achieve when they act with purpose.

He described the broadcasts as a way of paying tribute to the strength of the Indian people. Through the program, he said, he was in a sense offering his respects to the power of the nation’s citizens.

A bond with every household

Modi said the program has given him the chance to build a connection with every family in the country. He said many listeners write to tell him that when they tune in to Mann Ki Baat, it feels as though he is sitting among them as a member of the family.

Those messages clearly moved him. He spoke about the warmth he has received from listeners and presented it as something he values deeply.

"The affection and attachment of all of you, my listeners, is truly an invaluable asset for me."

That sense of closeness, he indicated, is what has sustained the program across more than a decade. The listeners, in his framing, are not an audience alone but companions on a shared journey that has now stretched across 139 episodes.

The anniversary, for Modi, was less about the milestone itself than about the people behind it. He used the occasion to acknowledge the listeners who walked this path with him and to reaffirm the value he places on their support. What began on a festival day in 2014 has, by his account, become a monthly ritual of gratitude, connection and respect for the people who build the country every day.