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An American India Foundation office-bearer who accompanied Mr Clinton to Kutch told The Asian Age on Wednesday night, “I have been with him three times in my life. But today’s was an unforgettable experience.”
Mr Clinton was apparently so moved by the plight of the quake victims that he told the Red Cross and the American India Foundation “not to force him to eat.” The former President, according to a senior AIF member, did not eat anything from noon to 7 pm.
“My God, Gujaratis sure are very courageous people,” Mr Clinton remarked after visiting Ratnal, a village devastated by the January 26 earthquake. According to the AIF member, Mr Clinton looked “visibly upset” at Ratnal where he interacted with the locals freely.
Mr Clinton was so overwhelmed at Ratnal that when over two dozen girls came forward to greet him, he brushed aside his security and let the young girls apply tika and perform the traditional aarti. An 80-year-old woman, in typical Kutchi style, asked Mr Clinton to bend his head and namaste. Mr Clinton obliged willingly and she blessed him. “He is better than Vajpayee and Keshubhai Patel. They haven’t bothered to come and see me,” she said. She wanted. to, offer Mr Clinton a glass of water and had even cooked a meal for him. Mr Clinton thanked her for her concern. The old woman, who lost more than six family members, said “this gora (white man) is the best neta (politician) India seems to have.”
For Nandish Kodrani and Mital Thakker, both Class 7 students, it was a great surprise. They had been participating in the Republic Day rally when the quake struck and claimed the lives of over 250 schoolchildren. “This is the first time I have seen Nandish smile,” his father said. Nandish lost his mother and sister in the tragedy. The former President said he wanted to fake a walk with these children. He consoled them with hugs and then walked down the street holding their hands.
He observed a two-minute silence before paying floral tribute to the 250 children who died here. When he saw a woman crying, he told the security to let her approach him. Ms Madhvi Thakkar came forward clasping a photograph to her chest. “I lost my daughter Nimita In this tragedy,” she told Mr Clinton, who appeared to be at a loss for words.
From 12 noon to 7 pm, Mr Clinton
refused to eat anything. Even while flying from Bhuj to Ahmedabad, he refused
snacks. Back in Ahmedabad, it was a quick shower and a private dinner with
a few people. “It is remarkable the way the people here have responded
to this human tragedy,” Mr Clinton said. “The Kutch visit has been a lesson
in life for me,” he told an American Indian in Ahmedabad where he watched
a traditional dance and spent 20 minutes in the lobby of the Taj where
he was staying. Quake survivor Mital Thakker, who walked the ill-fated
street in Anjar on which over 250 children died with the Indian flag in
their hands, could only say, “Oh my God, he is so cool.” One BJP politician
dubbed his visit as “disaster tourism.”
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