Sharing his thoughts on radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recounted a story of a tigress and her two cubs as told by Indian mystic Swami Vivekananda, to urge people to recognise their own potential.

“Swami Vivekananda used to recount a tale about a tigress who went hunting with her two cubs and saw a flock of sheep. She went to hunt and one of the cubs followed her, while the other got left behind. A mother sheep adopted the cub and it grew up among sheep, and its behaviour became that of a sheep,” the prime minister said in the address titled Man ki Baat.

“Some time later, the cub that had gone with the mother tigress saw the other cub among the sheep and wondered how a tiger had come to behave like a sheep. It went up to him and told him you are a tiger, and he replied, ‘No, I am a sheep’. He took him to a well and showed him both their reflections in the water. The tiger then recognized who he was and roared. His identity was awoken,” said the prime minister.

“There is great strength in the people of this country of 1.25 billion. There is need for us to recognize the strength within us, like Swami Vivekananda said. If we recognise the strength within ourselves, our self esteem will rise and we will be victorious. Our country will also become victorious and successful,” Modi said.

“I think our 1.25 billion people have immense potential in them and are very capable. And we can stand up with confidence,” he said.