While the President enjoyed his quiet time in Kolkata, some were happy to see the president arrive, others complained about the traffic restrictions and the elaborate security arrangements.
'I am a 70-year-old man, how can I be a security threat,' asked a septuagenarian, arguing with a policeman after barricades were put up outside Mukherjee's house prohibiting even pedestrian movement.
President Pranab Mukherjee, on a four-day visit to West Bengal, spent some quiet hours Sunday morning at his residence at upscale Dhakuria in south Kolkata.
As his convoy came to a halt in Dhakuria at 10 am, a smiling Mukherjee came out of his car and waved to camerapersons who had been waiting for long to capture the moment when Mukherjee - the first president from the state - entered his residence of over two decades. Neighbours and bystanders had gathered around Lake Road where Mukherjee's flat 'Vatayan' [window] stands in the congested locality. The president was received by his son Abhijit, a Congress legislator in the state assembly. Mukherjee's wife Subhra was also present for the family lunch.
Mukherjee, who shuns non-vegetarian food three months before the start of Durga Puja till its end, had a traditional Bengali vegetarian platter with his favourite 'aloo and begun bhaja' [fried potato and eggplant slices].
While he was boarding his car, 80-year-old Mahontesh Chowdhury, who lives nearby, shouted in his feeble voice 'Poltu' [Mukherjee's nickname] but the president flanked by his guards, could neither hear nor see the man.
'As a Bengali, I feel very proud that a fellow Bengali is today the president of the country. I know him since my childhood. He had to face many challenges before his eventual success,' said Chowdhury, who like Mukherjee, hails from Birbhum district.
'I am a 70-year-old man, how can I be a security threat,' asked a septuagenarian, arguing with a policeman after barricades were put up outside Mukherjee's house prohibiting even pedestrian movement.
President Pranab Mukherjee, on a four-day visit to West Bengal, spent some quiet hours Sunday morning at his residence at upscale Dhakuria in south Kolkata.
As his convoy came to a halt in Dhakuria at 10 am, a smiling Mukherjee came out of his car and waved to camerapersons who had been waiting for long to capture the moment when Mukherjee - the first president from the state - entered his residence of over two decades. Neighbours and bystanders had gathered around Lake Road where Mukherjee's flat 'Vatayan' [window] stands in the congested locality. The president was received by his son Abhijit, a Congress legislator in the state assembly. Mukherjee's wife Subhra was also present for the family lunch.
Mukherjee, who shuns non-vegetarian food three months before the start of Durga Puja till its end, had a traditional Bengali vegetarian platter with his favourite 'aloo and begun bhaja' [fried potato and eggplant slices].
While he was boarding his car, 80-year-old Mahontesh Chowdhury, who lives nearby, shouted in his feeble voice 'Poltu' [Mukherjee's nickname] but the president flanked by his guards, could neither hear nor see the man.
'As a Bengali, I feel very proud that a fellow Bengali is today the president of the country. I know him since my childhood. He had to face many challenges before his eventual success,' said Chowdhury, who like Mukherjee, hails from Birbhum district.