Let three numbers tell the story first: 12, 13, and 100. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce on Saturday evening for the institution's centenary celebrations, it'll mark 13 years since an address at the same college that was widely read as the launchpad for his projection as the BJP's prime ministerial face.

The last time was in February 2013, when Modi came to SRCC as the chief minister of Gujarat, weeks into his fourth term in Gandhinagar and yet to be named his party's candidate for national office. He was in his 12th year as CM, having first taken office in October 2001. He would go on to mark another year as CM before taking the chair in Delhi.

On Saturday, he returned to the same campus with 12 years as prime minister behind him, in his third consecutive term, having led the BJP to victories in 2014, 2019 and 2024. Next month, he also completes 25 years as head of government, as CM or PM.

What He Said In 2013

The 2013 address was titled 'Emerging Business Models in the Global Scenario', but it was not limited to business. It was Modi's showcase of a governance manifesto, aimed squarely at the young voters.

He spoke in Hindi, saying, "I am concerned that a section of our society, and especially people in the political world, see the country's youth as merely 'new-age voters'. I want my country to accept that our youth are 'new-Age power'." This demographic argument became a staple of his campaign. He recounted a conversation with a foreign diplomat in which he spoke about India's untapped potential. "My country is the world's youngest, with 65 per cent of the population below the age of 35. Europe is ageing, China has aged," he'd said, adding that India's misfortune was its inability to use "such a large demographic scope".

That lecture was defined also by an image. Holding up a glass of water, Modi said optimists would call it half full and pessimists half empty. "I am someone who sees a path different from both of those paths. I have a third way of thinking, that this glass is full, half with water and half with air."

Among anecdotes, Modi described a visit to Taiwan roughly 15 years earlier, before he became chief minister. He said an interpreter there had asked him on the last day of the tour whether India was still a country of snake-charmers, ghosts and superstition, a stereotype attributed to foreign literature and movies.

"I told her, our ancestors may have been snake-charmers... Now we are mouse-charmers," he said, adding that young Indians with a hand on a computer mouse now had the power to move the world.

His statements that made headlines at the time included "government has no business to do business" and "minimum government, maximum governance", focused on the fact that he was speaking at India's premier commerce college.

This Teachers' Day, A Circle And A Renewed Push

His visit this year falls on September 5, Teachers' Day. In 2013, he spoke about teachers when describing an institute in Gujarat. "When a businessman goes abroad to export goods, he captures dollars and pounds. But when a teacher goes, they capture an entire generation," he'd said.

He notably said in the 2013 lecture, "The 21st century can be India's century."

The BJP used that line this week in a social media post framing Saturday's visit as a return to that vision now taking shape. It comes at a time when Modi is focusing even more on young Indians after a recent protest by the Cockroach Janta Party brought youth issues front and centre. He's taken to using more GenZ-focused mediums like Instagram, for instance, just as he sought to speak to the youth via the lecture at a major college back in 2013.

Earlier this year, he met the SRCC governing body at his residence in April to mark the centenary, and released a commemorative postage stamp for the occasion.