People's Pranab: The President's Museum

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have invited US President Barack Obama to be the chief guest for Republic Day, but recently President Pranab Mukherjee invited the common man and not a dignitary as guest to the Rashtrapati Bhavan where he inaugurated a museum. NDTV visited the museum which offers an intimate glimpse into the changing aesthetics of power, from the imperial past to the present. Also on display are stunning water colors by British architect Lutyens and his rival Herbert Baker who designed the North and South Blocks, their charm enhanced by the 'must-have-this-back' remarks scribbled on them. A 1948 picture of Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India with his close to 400 household staff establishes the scale of the Viceroy House, the making of which can be flipped through a touch-screen book. Alongside is a sculpture gallery that depicts crucial moments in the making of Modern India. A dramatic arms gallery tells the story of the Anglo-Sikh war and the Anglo-Afghan war.