Michelle received the hand embroidered shawl in ivory and turquoise colour from the President’s spouse when the visiting VVIP couple met the Mukherjees at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday evening.
President Mukherjee gifted her a specially-designed tea set with murals of the Rashtrapati Bhavan by famous Lucknow painter Sukumar Bose on it with today’s date inscribed on it.
US President Barack Obama received a painting by Rajasthan miniature artist Jay Kumar who with his prolific art work brought on to the canvas Bose’s murals that decorate the ceiling of state corridor of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Born in Lucknow 1912 and trained in Bengal School of Art, Bose who served as curator of Rashtrapati Bhavan till 1970, used intricate calligraphy to weave in shlokas from Bhagwat Gita in his meandering semi-circular motifs decorating the ceiling.
Using solid colours such as red, black, gold and silver in varying shades, Bose used scenes from Ramayana in Indo-Persian style to decorate the State Corridor's arched ceiling.
The President also gave books on the over 85-year-old imposing building to Obama.