Mirati, West Bengal:
Drums and dancing tribals greeted the man who may just be India's next president, Pranab Mukherjee, at his native village Mirati in West Bengal's Birbhum district today. He hasn't shaken off his Finance Minister hat as yet, he is set to submit his resignation on June 26, so instead of talking about being India's first citizen, he spoke economy.
"The RBI Governor will, on Monday, announce measures to tackle the falling rupee," Mr Mukherjee said.
His 82-year-old sister Annapurna Banerjee couldn't care about RBI or FDI or GDP. Her favourite tale is about how 40 years ago the siblings were going past Rashtrapati Bhavan when they saw some of the ceremonial horses being groomed. Pranab said in his next life he wanted to be a presidential horse, they led such a pampered life. Annapurna chided him for wanting to be a horse and said he would be president and in this life too.
"My forecast has come true," smiles Annapurna Devi. "I can't tell you how happy and proud I am."
Pranab is close to his sister and a bedroom at her house in neighbouring Kirnahar village is always kept ready for him. In it, on a wall is a framed black and white cartoon by Kutty of a much younger Pranab smoking a pipe - a signature habit he has now given up. But his grandchildren still call him pipedadu or the pipe-smoking grandfather.
"For us he is just a very affectionate grandfather," says Rituparna, Pranab's grandniece, "and though he has stopped smoking his pipe many years ago, the name Pipedadu has stuck".
In the couple of hours Pranab spent at Mirati, there was one embargo: no political questions. His son and Congress MLA had to field them instead.
Asked about Mamata Banerjee not backing his father's candidature for president, Abhijit Mukherjee said, "I as a son am appealing to Didi to back my father". (
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Mamata or not, Mirati is confident that the next time Pranab comes home, it will be as President Mukherjee.