A happy coincidence

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the digital version of Ramcharitmanas, which chronicles the deeds of Ram of Ayodhya. He said it was an interesting quirk of fate that the venue for the event was Panchavati at 7, Race Course Road, the official residence and principal workplace of the prime minister. As outlined in the epic Ramayana, Panchavati was the place in the forest of Dandakaranya, where Ram lived with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman during their exile. Karan Singh, a Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament, was one of the guests at the event. The PM lauded his presence to bless the project and said Singh had never let the ideological predisposition of the government of the day be an obstacle in encouraging projects such as the digital Ramcharitmanas.