Sitharaman then quoted Thiruvalluvar to talk about how the Narendra Modi-led government has already accomplished the “five jewels that make a good country”: Pini inmai selvam vilaivu inbam emam, which translates to: Unfailing health, wealth, fertility, happiness and security. This resulted in remarks of protest on the floor, with an unidentified Parliamentarian even shouting ‘Omar Abdullah’, possibly referring to how political representatives of Kashmir are under detention and the people of the Union Territory continue to suffer from lockdown, and internet shutdowns since the government announced the abrogation of Article 370 in August. Mera watan, tera watan, hamara watan, duniya ka sabse pyaara watan.”. While her attempts to break the monotony of the Budget presentation with literature garnered appreciation last year, this time around, some of Sitharaman’s verses riled up members of the Opposition.įor example, she translated Dina Nath Kaul Nadim’s Kashmiri verses into Hindi, saying, “Hamara watan khilte huye Shalimar Bagh jaise, hamara watan Dal lake mein khilte huye kamal jaisa, nau jawaanon ke garam khoon jaisa.
In her maiden Budget speech in 2019 too, the minister-who is an alumnus of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)-had quoted Vivekananda, Chanakya, Pisirandaiyaar and Basaveshwara. In what was the longest Budget speech in Parliamentary history, stretching to almost three hours, the Finance Minister recited a variety of verses: A Kashmiri poem by Dina Nath Kaul Nadim a line from Tamil saint poet Avvaiyar’s Aathichudi one kural of Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural and a Sanskrit verse from Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsha.