Children's day out with the President
Jan 23, 2012 06:30am
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It was a lucky day for the select children who got to interact with President Pratibha Patil at the regal Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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All the President's Children has been a CNN-IBN property for a long time. We first did it with President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2007.
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One thing that President Patil insisted upon was that we invite children from across India, from all the strata of society and that we put a particular emphasis on the female child.
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In a show that lasted for more than two hours, the children had a great time with the President. Of course, the girls outshone the boys as far as their questions to the President were concerned!
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Children were curious about President Pratibha Patil's experiences inside a battle tank, a naval warship or while flying a Sukhoi.
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When the idea to shoot with children was proposed to President Pratibha Patil this year, there was a lot of excitement at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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Since a few children were also connected via satellite, questions came in from all kinds of places - from Bijnor in UP, far-off Manipur, down South to Kashmir.
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Many of the children were from the weaker sections of the society and had their own tells to share with the President and other children.
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The intermixing was excellent as we saw students from better-off schools mingling with the kids from the less privileged backgrounds.
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Many children said their friends were envious of the fact that they were going to spend a great day with India's President at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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Many of the children referred to President Pratibha Patil as a grandmother-like figure.
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Children gave gifts, cards, flags etc. to the President. Everyone went back home with a big smile on their faces.












