When Ram Nath Kovind was elected President of India on July 20, he had said he still remembers how his siblings stood in a corner of their " kachcha" house to protect themselves from rain.

This simplicity is his former staff and officials at Raj Bhavan, from where Kovind served served as the governor of Bihar from 2015 before taking oath as the 14th President of India on Tuesday, remember of their now former boss.

The staff at Raj Bhavan believe despite Kovind's series of successes, his accomplishments never got to his head and he has always remained grounded. Though Kovind strictly adhered to rules, regulations and protocol, he took interest in knowing the problems of his staff members.

Rakesh Dubey, the former aide-de camp to the governor, said: "Shri Ram Nath Kovind during his stint as the governor of Bihar led a simple life. His simplicity reflected in his lifestyle, food habits and during his interactions with guests and his officials.

"He used to wake up early and after a walk he mostly had South Indian dishes such as idli or dosa and coconut water."

According to Dubey, who is now posted as additional superintendent of police (ASP), Patna, said Kovind is kind-hearted and a very emotional person.

Recalling his days with Governor Kovind, Dubey said: "Newspaper reports on murder for money or property used to disturb Kovindji a lot."

As the aide-de camp to the governor, Dubey has extensively travelled with Kovind and has even visited the Dalit leader's village, Parakhuan in rural Kanpur. Kovind has gifted his Parakhuan house to the village for a school and community centre.

According to people who are close to the Kovind family, the President's wife Savita Kovind, son Prashant and daughter Swati, too, led simple lives.

Prashant, a businessman, and Swati, an Air India cabin crew member, used to visit the Raj Bhavan during vacations, but never threw their weight around. "Prashant and Swati used to mingle with the Raj Bhavan staff quite easily and frankly," said a Raj Bhavan official. "We never felt they were the children of the state's first citizen. We came to know that when Kovind sir's name was finalised for the President's post, Swati had kept his father's identity a secret among her colleagues."

Apart from Kovind's son and daughter, his other family members, too, used to visit the Raj Bhavan.

"Going by their appearance it seemed that Kovind sir had never misused his position in helping his friends and relatives, which indicates that he despised nepotism," the official said.

Kovind's wife is a retired government officer and his elder brother retired as a government accounts officer in Madhya Pradesh. One of his brothers and nephews are government schoolteachers in Uttar Pradesh.