Mumbai:
"I urge you, today, to ask my husband some tough questions, alright?"
And with that, amidst a thunderous applause, Michelle Obama introduced the audience to her husband, the President of the United States, Barack Obama. As he briskly made his way to the dais, smiled and greeted his wife with a kiss on the cheek, he already had the crowd on his side.
If that was the First Lady's way of putting the American President at ease, he chose to underplay his speaking skills, saying, "I hate speaking after Michelle because she does such a good job of it."
Very few would have believed him, of course, given that when he took to the stage, he had the audience eating out of his hands... with an ease and charm that was unassuming yet powerful at the same time. The words he chose were crisp, well thought of and seemed to come straight from the heart, making references to the power of the young and drawing inspiration from the teachings of the Mahatma.
No one missed the fact that the President's jacket was missing, he had done away with his tie; he was now ready to connect with the youngsters, eagerly waiting to hear him speak.
"I want to have a dialogue with you and this is one of the wonderful things I get to do as the President of United States. When I travel we always try to set up town hall meeting where we can interact with the next generation. Because I want to hear from you, I want to find out what your dreams are, what your fears are, what your plans are for your country?" he said, adding, "You are future leaders, future educators, entrepreneurs and future electors. More than half of all Indians is under 30 years old. Great statistic. Every single child holds promise of greatness."
He specifically asked his young audience to reflect on three key questions:
- What do you want India to look like in 20 years
- What kind of partnership do you want in 20 years from now (with the US)
- How do you want to make the world a better place
"This is your century to shape. There are powerful example of those before you," Obama said.
In fact, the stage was set the minute Michelle Obama introduced the man who needed no introductions, egging on students to ask some tough questions and keep him on his toes.
His very first question came from a young student from St. Xavier's College, Anam Ansari. She asked, "What is your take or opinion about jihad?"
In response, Barack Obama said that jihad has a lot of meanings with Islam. He added, "More than a billion people who practice Islam, an overwhelming majority view their obligations as ones that reaffirm peace, fairness, tolerance. All of us recognise that this great religion in the hands of a few has been distorted to violence which is never justified."
Another interesting question came in from another college. "When you were being elected, one of the words you used were change. After the mid-term polls it seems the American people want change. How will that affect young India?" In reply he said, "The United states has gone through the toughest two years economically, as we have gone through since the 1930s. Although now we have stabilised the economy, unemployment in the United States is very high... people are frustrated. Although we are making progress we are not making progress quickly enough."
The show stopper question though was the one on Pakistan, that HR management student Afsheen Irani put to him. President Obama may did not give Afsheen the straight-forward answer she hoped for, but he did acknowledge that progress on eradicating terror there has not been as fast as he had hoped.
The interaction that lasted an hour had all 300 students in the audience hanging on to his every word.
One student in fact also complimented Obama on his oratory skills. He said, "It is an absolute pleasure to hear you and one day I hope I would be half as great as an orator as you are."
His sincerity, humour and charm had clearly hit all the right notes.
Mohini Bhattacharya who attended the interaction told NDTV, "I don't think there are many people in our generation or the previous generation who have a vision like his."
The Obamas with their trademark eloquence had made it an afternoon to remember. And for those in Mumbai who got the chance to listen to the man in person, it may have well added a special sparkle this Diwali.