Obama's India Visit. Impressive ! Very Impressive !!!

Obama came. Saw, And conquered. The minds and imaginations of the young in India. He did what not many Indian politicians had done. Speak with the people. Answer their questions. With apparent sincerity. And at the end of the day thats what matters. Perceptions.

The US President changed the pattern of a typical head of state visit starting from Delhi and decided to start at Mumbai. He stayed at the Taj Mahal Hotel. And visited 2 institutes. One school. And one college. And thereby lies a tale.

President Obama landed with Michelle onboard Air Force 1 on the afternoon of November 6. His first stop, Mani Bhavan, a musuem on Mahatma Gandhi, often quoted as his hero. He stayed at the Taj Mahal hotel, the venue of the Mumbai attacks. And the hotel my Dad spent uowards of 50 years at.

The next day's trip started with a visit to Holy Name school, where he celebrated Diwali with the kids. The kids showcased several dances and managed to get Michelle to dance to their tunes. But that wasn't surprising. She's quite a sport and enjoys dancing. The shocker was when they managed to get Barack on the floor and made a valiant attempt to shake a leg. And before I forget, Holy Name is the school where I and my siblings went to school.

After that, he visited St. Xaviers College for a town hall like interaction with college students from St. Xaviers as well as several colleges around Mumbai. And you guessed right. My brothers and I attended Xavier's. And Obama thereby confirmed beyond any doubt that he has great taste.

I'm assuming the 300+ students were special and achievers in their colleges. The interaction started with a speech by Michelle. It was followed by what Obama called a few words, but ended up being a 15 minute speech before throwing the fllor open to questions. Interestingly, he chose 6 random students and managed artfully to seeem to answer their questions whilst talking about everything he wanted to whilst skirting the specific questions. However what was amazing is that everybody who saw the intearction believed he did a great job. Surprisingly nobody seemed to notice that the questions remained unanswered.
 

During Obama's opening remarks, here is what he asked. I want you to consider three questions I have for you - questions about what the next 20 years will bring.
1. First, what do you want India to look like in 20 years?
2. Twenty years from now, what kind of partnership do you want to have with America?
3. How do you - how do each of you want to make the world a better place?
Although he gave rather lengthy explanations. I'd like to try and answer those questions in 1 line each.

1. I'd be happy if in 2030 we have a India where the BPL (Below Poverty Line) population is under 5%, literacy is at 95% and our ranking in the corruption index is a low number.

2. An equitable partnership, unlike today which is less of a partnership and more of a 1 sided relationship.

3. I'd like to see a world where the gap reduces. Between the haves and have nots. At all levels. Nations. States. And most importantly people.

Obama ended his trip in Delhi and enthralled Parliament by saying all the right things. Which summarized meant very little. But then isn;t that what politics and statesmanship is all about ?