On Sunday morning, social media was awash with visuals of the new Parliament building, with many celebrities and ministers sharing an identical video with their thoughts about it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted the video on Friday, with a request to people to share it with their own voiceover under the hashtag MyParliamentMyPride.
One video stood out among the countless that were tweeted, with a prayer in a voice familiar to Indians and set to music from the film Swades:
India’s new Parliament House, the new home of our hopes, a home for the custodians of our Constitution where 140 crore Indians are one family.
May this new home be so big that it can give space to every state, region, village, town, every corner of the country. May the arms of this house be so wide that it can love every caste, race and every religion. May its gaze be so deep that it can see and know every citizen and recognise their problems.
May Satyamev Jayate be not a slogan here, but a faith. May the elephant, the horse, the lion and the pillar of the Asoka Chakra be not a logo, but our history.
It is said that a Parliament is to the nation what the soul is to the body. My sincerest prayers that the soul of democracy remains robust in its new home and continues to foster liberty, fraternity and equality for ages to come.
May this new abode of democracy build a new age that is renowned for its scientific temper and empathy for all.
A new Parliament for a new India, but with the same age-old dream: the glory of India, of our nation. Jai Hind.
Shah Rukh Khan’s video with a prayer for India was viewed by over 13 million on Twitter. The Prime Minister retweeted it, saying: “Beautifully expressed.”