It was after a visit to the Ramakrishna Mission Ashram at Belur Math near Kolkata that Modi went to the Himalayas. "Nothing much is known about what he did and whom he met during those wandering days."
A swami at the Ramakrishna Mission at Rajkot advised him to keep a beard - something that has stayed with him ever since.
"For years Modi used to burn his belongings or anything associated with him. This was his way to disconnect with the past."
Once Modi saw a baby crocodile at the bank of a lake. It was more than a foot long. He took it home to nurse it but his mother told him to drop it in the lake.
