bhubaneswar although president pratibha patil has shown to the nation that she looks quite fetching in a gsuit in the cockpit of a sukhoi the humble saree remains her first love and when in orissa a state known for its vibrant weaves how can the president not get tempted to pick up a handloom drape a sambalpuri ikkat bomkai silk caught her attention and without hesitation patil reached for her purse interestingly this saree has been painstakingly woven by master weaver and padmashree awardee chaturbhuj meher who has a clientele of alisters like sonia gandhi manmohan singh asha bhonsle and shobhaa de the grand lady of indian politics indira gandhi had also fallen in love with his exquisite weaves kishor a close aide of meher who accompanied him to the raj bhavan on wednesday to meet the president said the light green ikkat silk was simple had a traditional appeal and would look very good on the president meher also presented a handwoven silk wall hanging depicting the famous konark sun temple to patil designed by meher the 9x10 ft tieanddye tapestry will take anyones breath away it consumed the relentless labour of four weavers over eight hours a day spread over a year to complete it meher said it was a great honour for him to meet the president the gift is a token of love of the people of orissa as it portrays our rich culture and heritage he said adding the labour is priceless the wall hanging makes for an ideal gift combining tradition with contemporary design meher has been assigned by the government to handcraft about seven such masterpieces including sarees and wall hangings which will grace art galleries and museums across the country the wall hanging that was gifted to the president was from this enviable collection during her visit to urban haat patil also met freedom fighter laxmi pandas foster son at raj bhawan and gave him a personal hearing on tuesday here the president condoled the death of the only oriya woman who had served in the ina and recalled the story that panda had narrated to her anil thanked the president for all that she had done for her foster mother the rastriya swantatra samman may have come too late but laxmi panda had fought her last battle and emerged victorious anil said the president personally intervened and made sure that the samman was awarded within a short time