New Delhi, Aug 31 (PTI) Former president Pranab Mukherjee’s leafy post-retirement bungalow was “infested with monkeys” once but he defended the ‘simian intrusion’ saying humans had taken up their natural space, his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee recalled.
She shared this anecdote during an online event hosted on Wednesday to mark the second death anniversary of her father.
“My father was an animal lover. We had moved to 10, Rajaji Marg bungalow after his retirement as president. Once, the mansion had become infested with monkeys and a troop of 50-60 monkeys had entered on to the premises of the house and created havoc. They spoiled mangoes and all, but when it was told to our father, he said, ‘we have taken up their space’,” Sharmistha reminisced about the light-hearted incident.
Mukherjee would even go on to say, “We can buy vegetables, but can those monkeys purchase vegetables from a market”, she recalled.
Mukherjee had assumed office as the 13th President on July 25, 2012 and retired in July 2017, aged 81. He died three years later.
Post-retirement, Mukherjee had moved to the 10, Rajaji Marg mansion, spread over an area of 11,776 sq ft. The ground floor housed a library and an attached reading space for Mukherjee, as he was an avid reader too.
The Raj-era two-storey bungalow, endowed with sloping red-tiled roof and fitted with chimneys, located in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, had also served as a retirement home for former president the late A P J Abdul Kalam till his death in 2015.
The event was hosted by Pranab Mukherjee Legacy Foundation. PTI KND ZMN
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