The award ceremony began with a rendition of the national anthem by students of the Happy Home School for the Blind, Mumbai (left), who also sang Ek Nazaria - written by President Kalam and set to music composed by A R Rahman.
The closing ceremony was enthralling. A musical performance by four gifed children -- violinist L Subramaniam's eight-year-old son Ambi on the violin, Rimpasiva on the mridangam, Kiran Pathakota on the tabla and G Chandrashekhar Sharma on the ghatam -- left the audience spellbound. So moved was the President by their talent that he walked up to talk to them.
It was a fitting finale to three days of connecting to one's roots.
Also See: The Inauguration