"We are very proud of having a leader who is such a great poet," said Minister of Defence Nirmala Sithraman on Friday at the launch of the book, 'Sindhanai Kalanjiyam,' a collection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poems translated into Tamil by Dr Rajalakshmi Srinivasan. 

The Defence Minister said the "presumptions" one had about the Prime Minister was that he was an 'autocrat,' but this book has brought out a different side to the leader. 

"While reading the book, I got to see a completely different side to our leader," Sitharaman said. "It highlights all the wonderful qualities he possesses like sympathy. Lots of people look at him as someone who does not listen to anyone else, they also say he will not understand our problems but this book will portray him in a different light." The author, Rajalakshmi Srinivasan, spoke about what prompted her to take up the task of translating Narendra Modi's poems into Tamil.

BJP in politics(poetry): Prime minister Narendra Modi had shown a different side of him 

"As the world becomes a smaller place, it is important to be exposed to all kinds of literature," said Srinivasan. "Language is something fundamental to human beings. The world over there are people who speak Tamil and just as beautiful a language Tamil is, there are a number of other wonderful languages. This is an attempt to let the reader explore another side of a great leader. It will give a wider reader base to see Modi, the poet."

The event was attended by poet Vairamuthu, who lauded the book as being one that opened his eyes to a softer side to the seemingly 'intimidating' personality. Industrialist Nalli Kuppuswamy Chettiar, Dean of SASTRA University Dr Vaidhya Subramaniam, vice-president, VIT University, GV Selvam and Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan was also present at the event. 

(This was first published in The New Indian Express)