sculpture of shaking hands near the Capitol Mall , Sacramento, California
Obama does feel like a very ordinary individual. Specially in light of his very forgettable presidency that has swiftly gone from "Yes we can" to "No I can't". If he makes an effort to learn to say greetings in a new language ; it must really be quite important. A number of heads of state and heads of the governments traipse through the halls of United Nations in New York . Quite a few of them wing their way to Washington DC and some do get to see the POTUS when on official business. This was not one of those trips.
Modi's recent trip to US was unique in many respects and strikingly different from the trips of other Indian prime ministers in living memory. Firstly it was such a huge turnaround for an individual to be greeted officially at the white house when just some time ago he was considered not worthy of even a simple visitor visa. Several plans to bring him over by his group of overseas supporters in the past were stymied by the state dept. bluntly refusing the visa. But then there were elections in India and the same man accused by many (proven by none) for various crimes including mass murder; won them comprehensively. Fair and square.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for a lot his accusers and their friends in the media. They are still in a state of shock ; either taking recourse to catatonic silence or acting like headless chicken ; wildly lashing out in sheer desperation . To its credit , US has however smartly eaten the crow.
Modi hit all the right notes. Judiciously addressing his constituency back home in India by sticking to his religious fast; his ethnic sartorial sense and his use of Hindi. His visit to ground zero and casual interaction with a local gathering hit their American establishment and society targets with pin point accuracy. He did not forget his American Indian support group either and his Madison square garden appearance among them was described by his critics as " rock star reception"!
Exceptionally high on optics and colorful sound bites , can the trip be termed a success? Well if you disregard the congress spokesperson the answer is yet hidden in the future. On a personal level Modi was vindicated and how! . On a national level the trip was able to reset the US - India relationship to an even keel. A relationship that had seen considerable degradation in recent times as seen by the Khobragade affair ; spying on Indian leaders and the American embassy school affair..... It was tit for tat that had all been going south recently. There is nothing here to jump with joy yet as I believe too much of an American embrace is nearly as bad as too much of American animosity. Ask Pakistan ! However a healthy ,balanced, economic, diplomatic and political ties with the US are desirable and must be valued.
A huge part of the trip was focused on invigorating the economic relationships with the US business and industry. There are clear pointers that a significant headway has been made during Modi's meeting with the captains of industry and large investors. The confidence generated by these meetups even pushed India's credit rating up . A lot will depend on what has been asked of in return and what promises Modi is able to keep. Inflow of new foreign investment will depend on reduction of red tape; rationalization of rules and relaxation of norms governing these investments. Modi has promised to clean up the mess in six months , so we will have to wait and see how it pans out in the coming months. Modi is banking heavily on foreign investment to generate new jobs for the young demographic and I will not be surprised to see him push the envelope to achieve a breakthrough.
That brings us to that special group called "American Indians". Very vocal in Modi's support this group has for sometime now bet on Modi. Commonly held belief that they are a bunch of rich professionals with a lot of political reach and far right view is far from true. This is pure stereotyping . Reality is that they are as varied as the Indian society itself. Come to think of it what is common between a New York cabbie who arrived from Moga ; a silicon valley techie that arrived from Tumkur and the owner of a 7-Eleven who arrived from Bhuj ? Nothing really. To see them as a homogeneous entity is not only wrong it is down right insulting to them.
Most of them feel a strong connection to India and have strong emotional, cultural , economic and family ties to their mother land. People often make the mistake of either putting them on a pedestal as "they made it "or demonize them as "self centered, crass runaway's " . Best way to treat them is as one would treat any other Indian. They were the biggest external factor that helped Modi win his massive mandate even when most did not have a vote. Modi understands that power. He did not give them any largesse except a promise of easy visa, but he was able to give them a rallying point. They see in Modi as someone that could bring about the changes they want to see in their land of birth and I would not be surprised if this group gets an expanded role in the coming years.
So imagine a special correspondent of "Ku Klux Klan Today" travels to Harlem where a basketball game is being played and starts interviewing some of the African American fans gathered there. The interviewer then proceeds to use derogatory and demeaning terms for Martin Luther King while reporting from the site and tells the gathered fans that they have "no class". It is quite hypothetical and totally improbable ;but would you be surprised if you had to fish the correspondent out from bottom of the east river? I know even a rookie journalist is not so stupid as to conduct his interviews in this reckless fashion. What do you know ? Life is stranger than fiction and heartburn is such a bad disease. Makes you loose your head . This scenario actually got played out during this trip at Madison Square garden ;about six miles via 5th avenue from Harlem. Just change the news organization ;ethnicity of the fans and their hero with same initials "M". Oh , another thing - make it a veteran journalist. I am not so sure of his professional reputation but luckily he is safe and hope he gets over his heartburn soon . He might be offended but I would love ask him 'Kem cho?".
On a sour note I was a little disappointed by the subdued role played by the Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj during the trip. I would have preferred a more visible use of her substantial talents. Apparently it was not mandated.
Modi hit all the right notes. Judiciously addressing his constituency back home in India by sticking to his religious fast; his ethnic sartorial sense and his use of Hindi. His visit to ground zero and casual interaction with a local gathering hit their American establishment and society targets with pin point accuracy. He did not forget his American Indian support group either and his Madison square garden appearance among them was described by his critics as " rock star reception"!
Exceptionally high on optics and colorful sound bites , can the trip be termed a success? Well if you disregard the congress spokesperson the answer is yet hidden in the future. On a personal level Modi was vindicated and how! . On a national level the trip was able to reset the US - India relationship to an even keel. A relationship that had seen considerable degradation in recent times as seen by the Khobragade affair ; spying on Indian leaders and the American embassy school affair..... It was tit for tat that had all been going south recently. There is nothing here to jump with joy yet as I believe too much of an American embrace is nearly as bad as too much of American animosity. Ask Pakistan ! However a healthy ,balanced, economic, diplomatic and political ties with the US are desirable and must be valued.
A huge part of the trip was focused on invigorating the economic relationships with the US business and industry. There are clear pointers that a significant headway has been made during Modi's meeting with the captains of industry and large investors. The confidence generated by these meetups even pushed India's credit rating up . A lot will depend on what has been asked of in return and what promises Modi is able to keep. Inflow of new foreign investment will depend on reduction of red tape; rationalization of rules and relaxation of norms governing these investments. Modi has promised to clean up the mess in six months , so we will have to wait and see how it pans out in the coming months. Modi is banking heavily on foreign investment to generate new jobs for the young demographic and I will not be surprised to see him push the envelope to achieve a breakthrough.
That brings us to that special group called "American Indians". Very vocal in Modi's support this group has for sometime now bet on Modi. Commonly held belief that they are a bunch of rich professionals with a lot of political reach and far right view is far from true. This is pure stereotyping . Reality is that they are as varied as the Indian society itself. Come to think of it what is common between a New York cabbie who arrived from Moga ; a silicon valley techie that arrived from Tumkur and the owner of a 7-Eleven who arrived from Bhuj ? Nothing really. To see them as a homogeneous entity is not only wrong it is down right insulting to them.
Most of them feel a strong connection to India and have strong emotional, cultural , economic and family ties to their mother land. People often make the mistake of either putting them on a pedestal as "they made it "or demonize them as "self centered, crass runaway's " . Best way to treat them is as one would treat any other Indian. They were the biggest external factor that helped Modi win his massive mandate even when most did not have a vote. Modi understands that power. He did not give them any largesse except a promise of easy visa, but he was able to give them a rallying point. They see in Modi as someone that could bring about the changes they want to see in their land of birth and I would not be surprised if this group gets an expanded role in the coming years.
So imagine a special correspondent of "Ku Klux Klan Today" travels to Harlem where a basketball game is being played and starts interviewing some of the African American fans gathered there. The interviewer then proceeds to use derogatory and demeaning terms for Martin Luther King while reporting from the site and tells the gathered fans that they have "no class". It is quite hypothetical and totally improbable ;but would you be surprised if you had to fish the correspondent out from bottom of the east river? I know even a rookie journalist is not so stupid as to conduct his interviews in this reckless fashion. What do you know ? Life is stranger than fiction and heartburn is such a bad disease. Makes you loose your head . This scenario actually got played out during this trip at Madison Square garden ;about six miles via 5th avenue from Harlem. Just change the news organization ;ethnicity of the fans and their hero with same initials "M". Oh , another thing - make it a veteran journalist. I am not so sure of his professional reputation but luckily he is safe and hope he gets over his heartburn soon . He might be offended but I would love ask him 'Kem cho?".
On a sour note I was a little disappointed by the subdued role played by the Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj during the trip. I would have preferred a more visible use of her substantial talents. Apparently it was not mandated.
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