Crisp, articulate, and honest. The common man got to see Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram at his candid best on Saturday afternoon as he read out from his book, A View from the Outside: Why Good Economics Works for Everyone, a collection of his columns published in The Indian Express between 2002 and 2004.

Introducing the author, The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta said Chidambaram brings decency and an intellect to politics.

“This instinctive reformer knows only too well that nothing really creates more disparities than a controlled economy and he has, through simple examples, tried to highlight the same through his book,” Gupta said.

Chidambaram described his visit as apolitical and personal, and said that after the release of his book in Delhi and Mumbai, he “wanted to take the message of his book to central India —and what better place to do it than Lucknow, a great, historical city of intellectual dynamism.”

He read out passages on securing better prices for farm produce, political honesty and integrity, and the difficulties of building an ethical society, which can only be secured on a strong economic foundation.

The book reading was followed by comments from two senior guests sharing the dais, Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman, Dainik Jagran Group, and Prof Devi Singh, Director, IIM Lucknow.

Gupta described the book as “thought provoking”.

Speaking on the occasion, the Lucknow IIM director complimented Chidambaram on his lucid style with which he had made tough economic principles easy to understand for the common man.

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