Modi quotes Subramania Bharati in I-Day speech, ends on poetic note

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invoked noted Tamil poet Subramania Bharati to drive home the message in his Independence Day address as he borrowed his words saying India will show the "whole world a way" to get rid of all kinds of bondage.

Modi's speech lasted for a little over 80 minutes, during which he touched on a variety of issues, including his government's initiatives, the state of economy, women empowerment and India's stature globally.

The prime minister quoted a few lines from the works of the revered poet. He read out the lines in Tamil and also the translation in Hindi.

"Several years before our independence, Bharati had dreamt of a vision for India. He had said that India would show the whole world a way to get rid of all kinds of bondage," he said.

Modi also tweeted referring to the same lines from Bharati's works to reach out to people, especially the youth on the social media.

Bharati, considered as one of the pioneers of modern Tamil literature, was born in December 1882 in the village of Ettayapuram. He died in 1921.

Modi, incidentally also ended his speech with a poetic flourish, with the closing lines in Hindi being "...Have to scale heights beyond the skies, create a new India".