Kirnahar (WB), July 25: “My joy knows no bound. I am at a loss to describe how happy I am today,” said Annapurna Banerjee, elder sister of President Pranab Mukherjee, after the swearing-in ceremony was over.
Annapurna Devi, who watched the swearing-in on TV at her house in this remote village in Birbhum, said, “He (Pranab Mukherjee) had rung up requesting me to attend the ceremony, but I am 82 years old. I could not go. I was depressed, but I have watched it on TV.”
“I will certainly go to Raisina Hills. He will take me there. Today I am very, very happy. I cannot describe it. Many old memories are coming to my mind now. I am now waiting for him to come here,” she said.
When he visits here, she said, she would present him “Dwijendra Granthabali” (anthology of Bengali writer Dwijendra Lal Ray).
She recalled that several years ago when her brother was an MP, they were sipping tea one day on the verandah of his bungalow in Delhi which presented a view of the President's stable on the Raisina Hills.
Looking at the horses, he said, “What fun these horses must be having as they don't have to do anything and get all the care. Wish I were reborn as one of these,” she reminisced. “I told him why a horse in the President's stable! you will become the President of the country one day. This has come true today,” she with with palpable pride.
Devi said she would ask for two things from her brother:
First, a good hospital at her village Kiranhar and second, good roads.
