Prez 'at home': Space crunch has guests in a huddle

I wonder : It has become a reoccurring problem, last time on 26th Jan, The President house failed to cater for the seating arrangement of the Armed Forces Chiefs as it just managed to run short by three chairs. Jai Ho.


NEW DELHI: While President Pratibha Patil may have a reason to be happy that Delhi finally got some rain, a day after she spoke of the looming drought situation, the ‘at home’ in Rashtrapati Bhavan to celebrate the 63rd Independence Day was a washout. It had to be shifted indoors from the usually wellkept expanses of the Mughal Gardens.

The tea party lost much of its charm as the guests had to be huddled into the various halls on the first floor of Rashtrapati Bhavan with hardly any place for the invitees to mix around.

While the President herself walked through the corridors leading to Ashoka Hall and remained seated for 45 minutes as she met her guests, flanked by PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi , there was a certain stiffness about the 'at home'. The jostling at the tables where the tea and snacks were laid out was also unusual because of the lack of space.