‘Chinese’ Ganesha: Parrikar uses wit in unique Make in India pitch

The inimitable Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday was at his irresistible best making a case for government’s flagship programme Make in India. The Minister said he often gets statues of Gods, especially Ganesha, as gifts when he attends programmes. “I found that nowadays the eyes are becoming smaller and smaller. One day I turned it back and found Made in China,” he said leaving the audience at Vivekananda International Foundation in splits.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Design and Make In India-Electronics,’ the minister was talking about the importance of government’s flagship initiative. He said Indians have imagined the facial features of Goddess Saraswati and Ganesha among others based on the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma. “Don’t be surprised if it slowly changes. So we have to start ‘Make in India’ right from Diwali gifts to our own Gods. I think it is quite serious,” he said, talking about the Chinese edge over India in manufacturing.

Parrikar, known for his witty one-liners, also took a dig at Pakistan when a journalist told him that his recent comment on using terrorists to neutralise terrorists has spooked the neighbour (<g data-gr-id="22">unko</g> <g data-gr-id="23">mirchi</g> <g data-gr-id="24">lagi</g> hai). Parrikar replied, “I will not go into what Pakistan feels about that but <g data-gr-id="25">mirchi</g>, <g data-gr-id="26">woh</g> <g data-gr-id="27">bhi</g> Andhra ki <g data-gr-id="28">lagi</g> <g data-gr-id="29">hai</g>.”

Turning anecdotal while talking about <g data-gr-id="35">population</g> problem, the Minister said when he was a child his father used to jokingly say that a single atom bomb can solve it. “The population then was only 35 crore and he considered it to be a problem,” he said in a lighter vein. India, he said, has a large number of youngsters because the country’s population is huge.