The Prime Minister today presented British Prime Minister David Cameron a specially handcrafted pair of bookends made of wood, marble and silver. The centerpiece of each of these bookends is a silver bell, an object of rich symbolism relating to inner wisdom and tidings, which has a verse from the Bhagavad Gita etched in Sanskrit, along with its English meaning along the inside rim. Taken from Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita, these verses (15-16) describe the ultimate underlying reality. Each bell has one verse etched on it.
Without all beings, yet within; immovable yet moving; so subtle that it cannot be perceived; so far yet so near It is. (Verse 15)
It is indivisible yet appears divided in all beings. Know it to be the creator, the preserver and the destroyer. (Verse 16)
In addition, in view of Prime Minister Cameron’s fondness for Robert Graves’ work on World War I Goodbye to All That, the Prime Minister also presented to him David Omissi’s Indian Voices of the Great War.
For the First Lady, the Prime Minister presented Aranmula metal mirror, a unique GI protected handicraft from Kerala, and some pashmina stoles.
