BySukant Deepak

February 5, 2021 (IANSlife) Sharmistha Mukherjee, National spokesperson of AICC and daughter of former Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee, said that she was contemplating coming out with a book based on the former President's handwritten diaries.

Announcing this at a session with Rasheed Kidwai during the Kalinga Literary Festival, she  added that though she would like to write her father's biography, she faced a moral and ethical dilemma of what to include and what not to mention in the proposed book.

Sharmistha, who is also a classical dancer spoke on a range of subjects alongside the book 'The Presidential Years'. Apparently Mukherjee has left her with 8000 books and a collection of pipes that he used to smoke.

Talking about ‘The Presidential Years’ and the memories, Sharmistha shared, "This is completely my father's book. I may or may not agree with everything mentioned in it, but I am glad that it is out. However, I feel terribly sad that he is not there to talk about his work.

She also said that the former President wrote a diary religiously. "Writing that was a daily ritual with him. Despite his hectic schedule, he would never miss his morning walk, puja and writing the diary.”

Talking about his biography, Sharmistha said, “Well definitely, I would love to and as I have the diary, I will publish. However, the form is yet to be decided, I am working on that."

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Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in