At 6 am on the morning of May 17th a man named Sumit Arya the owner and proprietor of a well known Indian wedding vendor DulhanExpo in Iselin, NJ took severe umbrage at my anti- Narendra Modi postings and sent me this message:
 

Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP

“Pseudo-Intellectual Bangladeshi married to a white, probably divorced, obviously... don't see any pics of the hubby... forgot that the non-violent non-land-greedy peace loving Hindu Indian leaders gave your BD your freedom from a Muslim country...
Propagating hate against who showed balls against a terrorist attack on a train full of innocent people... The shoe hurts more when it's on your own foot?
you are a bitch and I feel sorry for you that you have to live with yourself... You have my guarantee that no Muslims will die unless Muslims or congress frames him,..
No more buildings being broken after 200 temples were burnt in retaliation of 1 babri masjid... do your taj is safe... "Book: Bhartiya Itihaas Ki Bhayankartam Bhoolein"... no more buildings will be broken cuz the whole world is scared of Muslims like you”
Grammatical offenses aside what struck me was, 1) the misogynistic undercurrent in the message and 2) the scrim of a threat to Muslims in India—not that this brain trust is in a position to hurt anyone—but what he is expressing in my inbox is a mentality that if shared by a mob leads to precisely what happened in Gujarat in 2002.  This abiding sense of vindictiveness and the Us vs. Them mentality is one of the hallmarks of the Modi campaign and ideology and what the world needs to be wary of.  
I have an embarrassing confession.  I did not know who Narendra Modi was up until about two months ago.  I did not dwell on the Indian elections.  The American media was not giving it substantial airtime, and I did not seek out extra information.  I assumed there was a Gandhi or two involved—there always is and that of course ended up being the problem in the end.  I wasn't even sure which Gandhi.  Then on a late night comedy show a picture of a handsome Rahul Gandhi in a heroic stance, smiling into the camera flashed on the screen.  The host of the show poked a few silly jokes, not at Gandhi's expense, but at the American media for failing to adequately cover what might be the world's largest democratic election.  That was the extent of my education.

I feel no connection to India on a visceral level.  It's the land of my ancestors and I don't think it was a good idea to parcel East Bengal off to a less than hospitable Pakistan, but I don't feel a blood tie. If I feel a connection to any part of India-it would be Kolkata. My mother was born there and I understand the language.  I set my novel there and did substantial research on it and traveled there to do so.  I love it, but as a student, and a tourist.  
And then I stumbled on an article about the 2002 riots in Gujarat, quite by accident.  It described in detail how 2,000 people, mostly Muslims were murdered, burned and raped in revenge after a Muslim mob set fire to a train, killing mostly Hindu women and children.  Modi, the chief minister at the time allegedly ordered his administration to do nothing when the mob fell on the Muslim community in retaliation.  This was an old article from 2003.  When I realized this was the same Modi running for PM of India I became much more interested.  His rhetoric and Nationalist stance bear marked similarities to the Nazi party of Germany.  Further, his methods of dealing with opposition bears a marked resemblance to the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was ultimately arrested and jailed for his crimes.  Modi has neither been arrested nor even questioned at length about the 2002 riots.  When asked if he has any remorse he likened his remorse to seeing a puppy being run over.
Modi is accused of silencing—by violent force—anyone who opposes him or questions his practices. Like Pinochet, who died in prison. Now he is the most powerful man in one of the largest democracies in the world, and a polarizing force. According to a report by Coastaldigest.com within hours of Modi's victory BJP activists “celebrated” by attacking a Masjid in Mangalore and destroying a stage built for community activities and presentations.  
His supporters from my observations fall solidly into two camps: one that is naïve and simply wanting anything but Congress, which is understandable, and the other that has a blood lust coursing through their veins, that has wholly bought into Modi's promises of a mighty, roaring, masculine, Hindu India, that will humble China and show America that she is not the only land of milk and honey. Minorities are wary, some are quaking.  And the Indian people have just handed him the brass ring, a ring that will undoubtedly turn into brass knuckles before long.  
Once I began to understand who Modi was and what he represented (a threat to peace and stability in South Asia but also the world at large) I started posting heavily on my social media platform and sharing tidbits of information because the fact was America appeared strangely under-reactive to this man.  Fareed Zakaria, or as I like to call him, “Step and Fetch It Fareed” predictably entreats the US to make nice with Modi, as it will apparently strike a winning blow for democracy and human rights everywhere. This is laughable. Human rights did not and does not appear to be at the forefront of either the US' or Modi's agendas.  The New Republic has correctly deemed Modi “A Dangerous Man”.  In my personal experience I see how incredibly polarizing he is and how I can identify a discernible pattern in those who support him because of his Hindutva ideologies.  
It could follow that Modi focuses on what he said was his main task, to re-vitalize India's economic promise and pave the way for a brighter future for her youth.  If he is a smart man he will know that a divided, unstable India will not lend itself to that. He knows the Obama administration does not trust him and he knows China is watching him closely.
As I said, I feel no palpable connection to India; my heart is heavy for the Indian people because they might have just embraced a serpent to their breast.