New Delhi: Giving protocol a skip once again, President A P J Abdul Kalam visited eminent writer Khushwant Singh who found it hard to believe that the head of the state should "waste" his time on a "pen pusher".
On Singh’s birthday, February 2, Rashtrapati Bhavan had called up the author to say that the President would like to meet him "at his convenience".
"For a while, I believed somebody was pulling my leg. I kept telling him 'who are you'. For two days, nothing happened and I was convinced that somebody was making a fool of me. Presidents do not ask for other people's convenience. But when the police started coming on Thursday, I believed it," Singh told PTI.
The 93-year-old author said that Kalam drove to his apartment in the heart of Delhi and stayed on for nearly half-an-hour, discussing their common passion – books –by the fireplace.
During the exchange of books authored by them, Kalam presented his Ignited Minds and Wings of Fire and received from Singh some of his writings.
"I was pleasantly surprised that he had read my books. He had read the two volumes of the History of Sikhs. I have reviewed Ignited Minds and had written that I was determined to tear him to bits. But when I read it, it was a turnaround. This man is a good writer. He talks common sense," Singh said.
Describing himself as "overwhelmed", Singh confessed he had become an admirer of the President.
"We have got the right man in the right place," said the author-columnist.
Singh was left with one worry though. "I do not know what my neighbours think of me now."
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