India's first lady Suvra Mukherjee dies

India's first lady President Pranab Mukherjee's wife Suvra Mukherjee died on Tuesday. She was 74.

She was suffering from respiratory disorders. She was also a heart patient and had been in the intensive care unit. She was under treatment at the Army (Research and Referral) Hospital, Delhi.

"Suvra Mukherjee died after a cardiac arrest. She was on ventilator till the time of her death," hospital PRO Sanjay Kumar said.

Suvra Mukherjee was born on September 17, 1940 in Jessore in Bangladesh and migrated at the age of 10 to Kolkata. She married Pranab Mukherjee on July 13, 1957. They have a daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee and two sons Abhijit Mukherjee and Indrajit Mukherjee.

Their elder son Abhijit Mukherjee contested from the Jangipur in West Bengal in the by-elections and became a Congress MP when his father vacated the seat of Jangipur.

A graduate, Suvra Mukherjee was an ardent fan of poet Rabindranath Tagore. She was a vocalist of Rabindra Sangeet and performed in the poet’s dance-dramas for long years not only in different parts of India, but also in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Suvra Mukherjee founded the Geetanjali Troupe, whose mission is to propagate Tagore’s philosophy as expressed through his songs and dance-dramas. She was the guiding force behind all productions of the troupe.

She was also a highly talented painter who had many group and solo exhibitions to her credit. She considered her mother who was herself a painter as the source of her creative inspiration and her works won critical acclaim.

Suvra Mukherjee has written two books: "Chokher Aloey", a personal account of her close interaction with late prime minister Indira Gandhi, and "Chena Achenai Chin", a travelogue on her visit to China.