Children's day out with the President

Jan 23, 2012 06:30am

It was a lucky day for the select children who got to interact with President Pratibha Patil at the regal Rashtrapati Bhawan.
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.
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.
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!
Children were curious about President Pratibha Patil's experiences inside a battle tank, a naval warship or while flying a Sukhoi.
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.
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.
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.
The intermixing was excellent as we saw students from better-off schools mingling with the kids from the less privileged backgrounds.
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.
Many of the children referred to President Pratibha Patil as a grandmother-like figure.
Children gave gifts, cards, flags etc. to the President. Everyone went back home with a big smile on their faces.