By IANS,
On Board Air India One: President Pranab Mukherjee felt like a “new bridegroom” once again at the grand reception he received Tuesday in his first-ever visit to his “sasur bari” (in-laws’ place) in Narail district of Bangladesh.
Smiling and blushing a trifle, the president, who in the morning visited his in-laws’ home in Bhadrabila village along with his wife Suvra, said the reception “made me feel as a new bridegroom”.
Asked by reporters on his experience at Bhadrabila village, Mukherjee initially said it was an “exclusively personal experience”, but later warmed up, saying though he was married in 1957, this was his first visit to his in-laws’ house.
The house of Mukherjee’s in-laws was given a facelift by the local administration ahead of the first couple’s visit, who flew in by chopper to the area, around 150 km from Dhaka.
He said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had jokingly told him that since he was visiting his in-laws’ house, then she would have to send him gifts on Jamai Shasti every year, an occasion when son-in-laws are feted by Bengalis.
“That was a joke,” he said.
Kanai Lal Ghosh, brother of Suvra, stays at the ancestral home. He and other villagers had been making elaborate preparations to receive the Indian president.