Macron mixes politics and culture

Simple is beautiful, beautiful is simple. And that is what sophisticated and urbane French President Emmanuel Macron proved when he charmed all around him with his simplicity.

Netizens had a glimpse of different Macron on Monday when he took a river cruise in a panshi boat down the River Turag in the afternoon as he took a time off after the official bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.....he went out to see the beauty of Bangladesh's river and riverside people, portraying himself like a schoolboy, saying....let's play, it's a break!

"This is an unscheduled cruise that he had as his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina concluded earlier than expected," a diplomatic source said.

During his visit along the Turag banks, he also stopped at a local food stall, relished the traditional Bangali delicacies, as the vendor offered the French president a plate of shingara, samosa and jilapi with a big smile.

 
He interacted with the singers, including the band's lyricist Rahul Anand and his family, listened to the music of the band.

The French president also rendered a line from Bangladesh's National Anthem: "Chirodin tomar akash, tomar batash, amar praane bajaye banshi," which touched the hearts of millions of Bangladeshi.

A clip containing Macron's rendering of the line from "Amar Shonar Bangla" is making the rounds on social media and winning the hearts and minds of netizens.

In a very tight scheduled he visited Dhaka but did not like to miss its most beautiful part rivers, songs and kacchi biriyani or Amra (hog plum) juice.

"He tried to make use of everything as much possible as he could in some few hours in his visit," official said.

President Macron arrived on Sunday night and dubbed the progress made by Bangladesh as "tremendous" in different sectors and called the youngest nation in South Asia forging its place before the world.