Giani Zail Singh
Term of office: July 25, 1982 to July 25, 1987
From the heartland of Punjab -- where in his youth he had ploughed fields, dug wells, laid roads and made swords. Zail Singh was first Sikh President of India. It was during his tenure that Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star, the Indian Army offensive to remove militants from the Golden Temple.
In his memoirs, Zail Singh said he was not consulted by the government before Blue Star. While he was criticised for being subservient to Indira Gandhi, he had strained relations with her son Rajiv Gandhi, the next prime minister, reportedly going as far as to consider dismissing him.
While in Rashtrapati Bhavan, he sometimes ate with gardners under a tree or with ordinary folk. He played with his grandchildren in the corridors and wanted the President's house to be 'national' rather than 'presidential,' wrote Aman Nath in his memorable book on Rashtrapati Bhavan, Dome over India.
On his retirement, he was accompanied by his successor Ramaswamy Venkataraman to the bungalow allotted to him on Delhi's 4 Circular Road. He started work on his memoirs soon after leaving Rashtrapati Bhavan, which was only published after his death as he had willed.
He had a fatal road accident in Ropar district and passed away in Chandigarh in 1994.
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