Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shut down a man on Twitter who, in an effort to correct a simple 'misquote' of Swami Vivekananda, called her 'sweetie'.
Sitharaman was celebrating the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, the 19th-century Hindu mystic who is credited with the proliferation of Yoga to the West, with the quote: "Awake, arise, and dream no more! This is the land of dreams, where Karma. Weaves unthreaded garlands with our thoughts...Be bold, and face. The Truth! Be one with it! Let visions cease."
Awake, arise, and dream no more!
This is the land of dreams, where Karma
Weaves unthreaded garlands with our thoughts
...Be bold, and face
The Truth! Be one with it! Let visions cease...The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda IV, pp 388-89
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) January 12, 2020
But one man felt the need to fix an 'error' in the quote, and went just a shade too far, calling her 'sweetie'. Sanjay Ghose, whose Twitter bio describes him as a 'struggling lawyer', said: "quotes from the Katha Upanishad & Swamiji’s adoption of the saying “arise awake”. Sweetie its “cease not until your goal is reached” not “dream no more”; unless it’s Budget 2020 that you are warning us about! " in a reply to the tweet.
@nsitharaman quotes from the Katha Upanishad & Swamiji’s adoption of the saying “arise awake”. Sweetie its “cease not until your goal is reached” not “dream no more”; unless it’s Budget 2020 that you are warning us about! 😹🙈 https://t.co/piAWuwpmgy
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) January 12, 2020
Sitharaman had none of it, leaving a dignified response saying: "Glad you’re taking interest. While he is oft-quoted w/the verse from Katha Upanishad, what I’ve excerpted, is from ‘The Awakened India’, written in Aug 1898 — BTW, I had cited the reference below the verse itself. Pub by Advaita Ashrama if you’re further interested."
Glad you’re taking interest. While he is oft-quoted w/the verse from Katha Upanishad, what I’ve excerpted, is from ‘The Awakened India’, written in Aug 1898 — BTW, I had cited the reference below the verse itself. Pub by Advaita Ashrama if you’re further interested. https://t.co/fceSBUxain
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) January 12, 2020
Ghose was criticised by many Twitterati, some of whom referred to him as a 'pathetic vermin'. For his part, though, Ghose admitted he was at fault for using 'sweetie'.
In previous tweet, I had referred to FM as “akka” ie elder sister. The FM’s response is actually very gracious & dignified. I was indeed wrong in using term ‘sweetie’-a little confused though. If “sweetie” is wrong why do these Gender Justice warriors want it used 4 others? https://t.co/sR0jPagPTf
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) January 12, 2020
