PC moves from SRK to Vivekananda

Last year Finance Minister sought to boost the nation's confidence with King Khan's Main Hoon Na, this time it's...

From Shahrukh Khan to Swami Vivekananda and Charles Dickens to Henry David Thoreau, Finance Minister P Chidambaram appeared to have traversed a long distance from cinema to spirituality and fiction to philosophy as he read out his third consecutive Budget speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

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The man who sought to instil the nation's confidence with King Khan's Main Hoon Na (I am there) last year was quoting Swami Vivekananda to exhort the nation on the path of destiny.

"We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind?...We make our own destiny", he quoted the youth saint as saying.

Quoting Thoreau, he said, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

Though the harsh realities of guiding one of the world's largest economies may have had its impact, Chidambaram continues to be inspired by his favourite poet-philosopher Saint Tiruvalluvar.

"Karunam Sidhaiyamal Kannoda Vallarku, Urimai Udaithu Iv Ulagu (The world is his who does his job with compassion)", the Finance Minister recalled the savant's words uttered 2,000 years ago.