At Home with the President

Decorative or rubber stamps are labels used generally to describe presidents in India but most presidents have carved out a place for themselves in the nations consciousness. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has a Teachers Day to remember him by,K R Narayanan was dubbed the thinking mans president and Patils immediate predecessor,APJ Abdul Kalam,of course,went on to become the Peoples President. But as Indias first woman President demits office on July 24,its difficult to figure out just exactly what she stood for. Hers has been a complex tenureaccentuated by unsparing media coverage.

Patils close associates and her public relations team have been devastated by the latest round of allegationsthat land set aside for her post-retirement home was the Armys and meant to be put to better use. Patil,77,had to scrap plans for the Pune residence. The number of her foreign trips made headlinesdespite the fact that its the Centre that decided on them. But UPA-II decided to stay clear of the controversy,leaving her to fend for herself.

The first citizen of India,always seen with her head covered in public,did try to do some things differently,like asking Governors to work towards issues she wanted to be identified withwomen and children,and army veterans and their families. Earlier this year,she surprised her speech writers when she spoke extempore about farmers at a meeting held for industrialists,saying that she saw farmers as entrepreneurs as they were foremost amongst Indian risk-takers. Her record clearance of mercy pleas for those on death row too did not help build her image in a world looking for a quick phrase to characterise a phase or tenure.

But in the past five years,while Patil never had a bill-returning moment or even a dilemma of who to swear in,she is demitting office at a time when her successor will be preparing to deal with weak executives and fractured mandates. Whether he chooses to be copybook or venture to interpret is anyones guess.

Rashtrapati Bhawan was also the Presidents home where she enjoyed her private moments: playing table tennis with her grandchildren (she played the game in her college days in Jalgaon too and was the inter-college TT champion for three years running),harmonium in the morning and reading newspapers.

People who have watched her closely during her years in the Rashtrapati Bhawan say that few appreciate what it takes to be the first woman President. Unlike her male predecessors,she does not always have her spouse by her side at public events. With her husband,Devi Singh Shekhawat,a Maharashtra politician,occupied with his work,she has sometimes spent weeks all by herself in the high-ceiling rooms,each vast enough for a magnificent echo.

Rashtrapati Bhawan was also where President Pratibha Patil enjoyed her private moments: playing table tennis with her grandchildren,harmonium in the morning,reading newspapers. Patils grandchildren visited her often