Jashodaben Modi: why is the Indian prime minister's wife trying to shake off her security detail? Few people in Mumbai last week noted the visit of the prime minister's wife. This is odd in a status-obsessed city in a status-obsessed country. But then Jashodaben Modi, 62, is no ordinary prime minister's wife. For a long time, nobody knew for certain the former primary school teacher existed. As it became clear last year that Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state, might take power at a national level in the world's biggest democracy, the question of his possible early marriage was raised. Yet mystery endured. Only when Modi, as required by law, filed nomination papers as the candidate of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, did any remaining doubt disappear. The prime minister to be filled in her name in the box marked spouse. The match had been arranged when both were very young and did not last long, though they never divorced. But, after keeping a low profile since Modi won a landslide election in May, Mrs Modi has hit headlines. She has not taken kindly to the government's decision to provide her with armed bodyguards around the clock, even when she travels in rickety three-wheeler taxis. She has now filed a request under freedom of information legislation to find out why she has been given security cover and has registered a series of concerns. I am surrounded by five security guards all the time. Often my relatives or I have to cook for them, my sister-in-law has to make their beds. This is a bit annoying," Jashodaben Modi told Reuters news agency by telephone. You see, it gets really chaotic when I have to travel, because I use public transport and the guards are following me in an air-conditioned car. This astonishing inversion of usual practice in India, where society ladies will eat lunch in expensive restaurants while maids sit outside in the sun, and where nannies follow the offspring of the famous to school to carry their bags, explains why Mrs Modi was not recognised when recently in Mumbai. Ashok Modi said he supported his sister's decision to file the request - under law passed by the previous government led by the centre left Congress Party. The Special Protection Group, an elite force modelled on the Secret Service that guards US presidents, is responsible for the security of the prime minister and his immediate family members by law. The Indian media have taken different lines on the story. Some have stressed Jashodaben Modi's fear of her bodyguards, others their demand "to be treated as guests" and the possible financial implications that might have for the prime minister's estranged spouse. The Firstpost website, a local news site, surmised that Jashodaben's "demand to know what security arrangements she is entitled to hints at a woman who wants to take back control of her life." The Mumbai Mirror tabloid saw evidence of something else. I wish to be with him. If he calls me, I am eager to start a new life with him. But it has to be he who calls," she was reported to have said.