"I am a politician by accident. I didn't choose politics as a career," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday.
His remarks at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi came amidst a raging political row between Left parties and the government that threatens to scuttle the India-United States nuclear deal, on which he has put his personal commitment.
An economist-turned-politician, Dr Singh was asked whether he was of the view that politicians are driven by short-term considerations and not concerned about long-term future of the country.
In his address, the prime minister said he was fully aware of the dictum that in politics one must survive short-term battles to attain long-term objectives.
"However, we need to work with one eye on long-term objectives, while meeting day-to-day challenges."
On apprehensions on the pace of reforms, Dr Singh observed that "we are in politics (and) politics is the art of impossible."
Going down the memory lane, the prime minister recalled his early years spent in a village which did not have drinking water supply, electricity, school, hospital and proper sanitation.
"I walked a great distance everyday to school and had to study at home under an oil lamp. We have come a long way from those modest beginnings," he said remembering the immediate years after independence.