The over 100 year-old journal had said, “The President drove out of the Government House (now Rastrapati Bhawan) in state exactly at 2:30 pm in a 35-year-old coach specially renovated for the occasion bearing the new emblem of Asoka's capital and drawn by six sturdy Australian horses, at a slow trot, escorted by the President's bodyguard.”
And, as the procession made its way through the Irwin Amphitheatre (now National Stadium) chants of “jai” echoed through the streets with cheers of people perched on trees and building roofs and every possible vantage point.
The people's President as he would come to be known as later in his office, responded to the joyous greetings of the gathered masses with warmth and folded hands.
