Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter for Bharat Ratna recipient Pranab Mukherjee, has fondly recalled the travails of her father as a child.

"He started his journey from a very remote village of Bengal. There was no development, roads, electricity. He had to travel for 10 kms every day to go to school. From there to the achievement of Bharat Ratna, it's a very long journey," the proud daughter told a news agency today.

Sharing an interesting anecdote involving the former President, columnist Minhaz Merchant says that he expected to be made India's Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi's assassination. "Pranab Mukherjee boarded a special Calcutta-Delhi flight on Oct 31, 1984, after hearing about Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination. Co-passengers? Rajiv Gandhi and other Cong leaders. Throughout flight, Pranab sat alone, expecting as seniormost Cong leader to be appointed the PM. Rest is history," he writes.