‘dAdu’ kOvINd CElEbrATES fIrST rAkSHA bANdHAN
Last Monday, it was the new President Ram Nath Kovind’s first Raksha Bandhan ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. A group of schoolchildren, mostly girls, was there to tie a rakhi to him. This writer was visiting his sister’s home in Dwarka. The next-door neighbour, Akshay Anand, an urban development expert, and his wife Dolly Singh were also there. Just after lunch, their nursery going daughter, Aashi, walked in, bubbling with excitement. A student of Sri Ram Global School, Dwarka, the threeyears and nine-monthsold Aashi had come from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Impressed by the grandeur of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Aashi said: “Papa, do you know that I, Manvi Ma’am (coordinator) and Geetika Ma’am (class teacher) went to a big house of a Dadu after you dropped me in the school this morning?” “The big house had huge gates,” prattled Aashi. “There were a lot of policemen who kept looking at us. Some were smiling. We walked through a small gate. It made a loud beepbeep sound as we crossed it, just as in the Metro stations and the airport. Then we reached a big hall, where a lot of girls and boys from other schools were there.” “Papa, lots of people were there in different dresses, like the police. There were some men who were wearing huge turban caps; they looked like the waiters of the restaurant we go to. The ceiling was very high.” “Manavi Ma’am and Geetika Ma’am took me to two chairs on which Dadu and Dadi were sitting next to each other. Dadu was wearing a blue dress and Dadi a yellow sari. Dadu and Dadi were wearing glasses. Dadu had less hair and they were white. Dadi’s hair was black. I said good morning to Dadu. He said good morning. I asked him to give me his hand to tie the rakhi. Smiling, he extended his hand. I tied a rakhi on his wrist. Papa, there was a big tray full of chocolates near his chair. I tried to pick up one, but Dadu picked up one and gave it to me. Then Dadi put her hand on my head.” “I was happy. But one thing I did not like. Whatever gifts we gave to Dadu, a tall man in a green dress (must be the President’s bodyguard) snatched it from Dadu’s hands and kept it on a table. I said bye to Dadu who also said bye to me. I like this Dadu.”“We were given a food packet. They also gave us a pencil box on which a picture of Dadu’s house was printed,” Aashi concluded. Her parents asked, “What is Dadu’s name and what does he do?” The little girl said, “Our Ma’am had told us, but I don’t remember.” Her father told her that Dadu is the President of the country and his name is Ram Nath Kovind. When he added that this Dadu was earlier the Governor of Bihar, where her real dadu lives, Aashi clapped her hands and said, “That is why Dadu was smiling…we must go again to meet him with our own dadu.”