New Delhi, November 8
US President Barak Obama might be the most powerful man in the world, but as far as domestic life is concerned wife Michelle seems to be the boss.

“When you and the President have a fight who makes up?” Faced with this innocent question from a very young student on a visit to the National Crafts Museum here today, the US First Lady replied, “I always wait for him to say sorry because I am a woman.”

This tit-bit about the visit of Michelle was divulged by Ruchira Ghosh, chairperson of the National Crafts Museum who took her on a tour of the entire place. The young girls in the age-group of 10-13 years were present with her throughout accompanied by US Ambassador to India Timothy Roemer's wife Sally. The 46-year-old First Lady spent two hours and 20 minutes at the museum, getting a taste of India's rich cultural diversity. Women power seemed to be a recurrent theme with her as she uttered the phrase again while appreciating a statue of Goddess Durga. “Every woman has to help another woman,” she said in an interaction with the students earlier. The First Lady was also curious about the various artifacts on display. Entrance to a Rajasthan Haveli, wooden statues of Andhra Pradesh and a Gujarati pigeon house were her special stop-overs in the museum. Michelle, at more than 5 foot ten inches, had a tough time manoeuvring through the low doors of the museum styled in the fashion of Indian village houses. It was a virtual shop-till-you-drop for the US First Lady as she bought as many artifacts as she could from the crafts bazaar. From kantha-stitch bedsheets and wall hangings to wooden toys and Manipuri shawls, Michelle picked up all. A special treat for her were the colourful bangles on display. She picked up nearly a dozen and added a beaded necklace to match her attire in a green skirt and a black top. Michelle reached the museum soon after paying respects at the Mahatma Gandhi's memorial at the Rajghat. She broke away from President Obama's cavalcade as her husband went straight to the Hyderabad House for a summit meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The National Crafts Museum was set-up soon after independence, various projects and schemes for preservation and development of handicrafts were envisaged in the first and second five-year plans.The establishment of a Crafts Museum was an integral part of this policy. The core collection of the Crafts Museum was put together in the 1950s and 60s to serve as reference material for the craftsmen whose hereditary traditions was fading due to industrialisation. The museum building, for displaying India's rural and tribal arts, was designed by renowned architect Charles Correa as a metaphor for an Indian village street — affable, accommodative and active. — PTI