Prez turns teacher, recalls childhood

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday donned the mantle of a teacher at a Delhi government school and left some students yearning for more of his wisdom.

Accepting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request to teach for an hour on the eve of Teachers’ Day, the President recalled how he was a naughty child and how his mother had to work hard to turn him into a good student.

“My mother and teachers are responsible for what I am today,” he said in his address in English to students of Class 11 and 12 of the Dr Rajendra Prasad Sarvodaya Vidyalaya in the President’s Estate.

Some students seemed listless, probably since Mukherjee’s sedate style contrasted with the live-wire performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, live-streamed an hour before the first citizen’s own lecture.

The President made no secrets of the challenges he faced in using social media. “I am not accustomed to (using social media),” he said.

Recalling his student days, Mukherjee said he had to walk 10 km to attend school.
“I wanted a road so that I can ask my mother for a bicycle,” he said.

Born in the Mirati village of West Bengal’s Birbhum district to freedom fighters Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee and Rajlakshmi, the President said the onus of raising him fell mostly on his mother since his father’s life revolved around jail and the party office.

He gave the students an insight into the freedom struggle, framing of the Constitution and importance of a free country enacting its own laws.

He also highlighted the country’s democratic ethos and referred to the increase in public participation over the years in the electoral process.

During the hour-long lecture, the President also spoke about the Indian economy and how the country generates 93 per cent of its expense needs from its own pocket.

Mukherjee, a former finance minister, also touched on GDP growth and policy corrections for public interest and empowerment.