New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the PTI newsroom on Saturday, concluded his hour-long tour with a thoughtful poem penned in the news agency's visitors book, reminding journalists that ethics and thoughts are their best weapons.
Writing in Hindi in his inimitable handwriting, the poem begins with the line "Aachaar, vichaar aur ab samachar" (ethics, thoughts and now news).
Loosely translated, the poem reads: Ethics, thoughts and now news It's such a struggle Of existence, of self In which we have to live And we have to win too The best weapons are Ethics and thoughts.
The poem in Hindi reads: Aachaar, vichaar aur ab samachar Astitva ka, atmatatva ka Aisa sangharsh hai Jisame jeena bhee hai Aur jeetana bhee hai Uttam astra, shastra hai Aachaar aur vichaar After writing the poem in PTI's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Vijay Joshi's office, the prime minister half-jokingly said "this verse is against you".
When Joshi asked what he meant by that, Modi picked up the book and read it out to convey the import that journalists should not lose sight of ethics and right thoughts.
Modi spent an hour touring the PTI headquarters in his first visit to any organisation's newsroom since he became prime minister in 2014. He showed keen interest in the PTI's newly-launched video service which has become ubiquitous in a short span of 10 months.