POETIC FINANCE

Lucknow Minister for finance Rajesh Agarwal’s 37-page budget speech was full of poetry. After beginning with a couplet of professor Wasim Barelvi, he quoted a Sanskrit couplet defining combination of star positions for the Kumbh. Lauding the CM, he said, “jab irada bana liya unchi uraan ka, fir dekhna fizul hai kad asman ka.” He concluded his speech with “lahron ko saahil ki darker nahin hoti” couplet and ended saying Vande Matram.