By IANS,
New Delhi : Like millions of others in India, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also celebrated the festival of Rakshabandhan Saturday, interacting with children who had a memorable time.
Patil met a group of children from Delhi and neighbouring areas at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion. Patil told them she was happy that the children knew the importance of the festival which celebrates the love between brothers and sisters which is beyond the barriers of caste and religion.
As she distributed sweets to the nearly 70 children from Delhi, Rewari, Bahadurgarh, Panipat, Ambala, Bhiwadi and Faridabad, she noted that an Indian is known for having emotional integrity.
“All problems, whatever they maybe, can be solved through discussions,” she stressed.
Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur invited schoolchildren to their official residence. The children, all dressed in their traditional and colourful best, tied threads of different colours on the prime minister’s wrist.
Manmohan Singh said in a message to the country that this was an occasion to uphold the traditional values of the nation’s culture and acknowledge and celebrate the role of women.
He also distributed sweets to the children from the Society for Rehabilitation of Physically Handicapped and All India Balmiki Samaj, among others.