Delhi Inspiration

My ongoing love-hate relationship with India just got a major boost on the side of "love" by an unlikely spokesman: President Obama.

Perhaps it was due to all the articles I've been reading about the US mid-term elections. Or maybe the frustration at being constantly stopped by Secret Service and Mumbai police officers all weekend. Or the BBC constantly showing footage of the President and Michelle dancing with school children on Diwali, with a voiceover asking if his trip was more for show than as a Statesman.

Whatever the reason, I just wasn't that excited to watch Obama's speech tonight to the Lok Sabha, the Indian Parliament.

Wow, was I wrong. At first just on background as I worked, I quickly became hooked to his speech. What inspired me most was the interconnectedness that he emphasized -- not only between the US and India, but of the world at large. And while I often forget, it is of course this belief in an interconnected world that brought me to India in the first place.

Particularly powerful was the connection President Obama made between Gandhi and the ripples he created around the world, through his inspiration to be the change we seek. He talked about Martin Luther King Jr's visit to India, saying, "I am mindful that I might not be standing here today as President of the United States had it not been for Gandhi and the message he inspired around the world."

I was struck by how similar Obama's words were to Jacqueline's, when he spoke of the importance of moral imagination, and enabling all citizens to lead lives of dignity... "minds without fear, with one's head held up high."

Besides US-India connectedness, he spoke about sharing India's expertise with farmers in Africa, and what India can teach the world in addressing global challenges. Indeed, this is a sentiment I strongly resonate with, especially regarding global health.

When Obama told Indian citizens that: "We will be standing with you, shoulder to shoulder" because "We believe in the promise of India. We believe that the future is what you make of it," -- I too became re-inspired in the promise of India and the work we are doing here. I again became re-inspired to "see myself in another, despite differences."

Perhaps it all sounds hogey -- propaganda on partnership made more trite by reading words on a page, rather than viewing the speech live... And who knows how much this one visit will change and strengthen the US-India partnership around mutual prosperity, security, and strengthening democratic institutions around the world, as Obama spent the majority of his speech discussing.

But the hope that his speech has inspired -- to believe in the promise of India in this interconnected world -- has not fallen on deaf ears.