Author: Ramesh Chandran
Publication: The Times
of India
Date: September 24,
2000
Washington - Diwali firecrackers
and diyas in White House? Yes, if President Bill Clinton has his way. The
US president expressed the wish at a fund-raiser held by a small but influential
group of Indian-Americans in Silicon Valley, California, on Saturday, where
they raised close to $1 million for the Democratic National Committee.
The event, headlined
by President Clinton, was held at the swanky hill-top home of the physician,
Dr Anmol Mahal, and organised by Visveswar Akella, a well-known high-tech
entrepreneur, and Dinesh Shastry, one of the fastest rising Democratic
Party activists. During the event, in which Clinton, now seemingly entirely
comfortable in an Indian ambience, freely mixed with the group of mostly
affluent high-tech CEOs and chairmen, seemed almost wistful about re-visiting
India.
Asked about speculation
that he might make a visit to India in November en-route to his official
trip for the APEC summit, Clinton responded: ''I would love to go back
to India...but the timeframe would be such that I would have to get back
to Washington''. The Times of India learns that the president explained
much as he would have liked to include India in his Asian itinerary that
includes halts in Brunei and Vietnam, he was not certain because of a possible
renewal of the Middle East peace talks.
This would be his last
chance to unravel the knot that strangulates that peace process thereby
leaving an indelible contribution to his presidential legacy of having
made a difference in that region.
While he spoke to the
small group of Indian Americans, Shastry asked Clinton about the possibility
of marking Diwali at the White House since under his leadership other major
festivals were being celebrated. The US president then took out his pen
and paper from his jacket sidepocket and scribbled away some notes assuring
them that he would explore how this could be done.
He then recalled how
Holi -- the blazing festival of colour -- was celebrated while he was in
India adding: ''We need something like that in this country''. Clinton
spent more than 90 minutes at Dr Mahal's Mediterranean - style villa, dressed
informally in a grey T-shirt, grey sports coat and brown trousers and chatting
with the hi- tech honchos. At one point, he apparently ignored the eagle-eyed
and nervous secret service personnel and began to play with Dr Mahal's
chocolate labrador, 'Terra'.
Eyeing the frisky five
month old pup, Clinton was heard remarking: ''She's like Buddy's little
sister''. Buddy, the nation's "First Dog" is also a chocolate Lab.
Earlier, speaking without
notes, Clinton told the group that the "opening that my administration
and I have made to India and the restoration of harmonious and good relationships
which were..understandably a little out of kilter during the Cold War when
India had to relate to the Soviet Union because of the tensions between
India and China; but for more than a decade now have made absolutely no
sense at all. So we are working hard on a partnership that I believe will
be one of the most important relationships that the US has for many, many
decades to come''.
As has become his wont,
Clinton also lavished praise on the "industrious and enterprising" Indian
American community and squarely crediting them for having played a "major
role in the turn-around in India-US relations". One key point he emphasised
was that the community should broaden their participation beyond the political
process and get involved in future administrations at high levels, in Boards
and Commissions''.
The Times of India also
learns that Clinton also referred to his pet themes of the digital divide
and how to use high technology, the Internet and the information revolution
to help alleviate the sufferings of the poor and the dispossessed. He stated:
''Fundamentally, wealth is not an end; it's a means to an end. And what
really matters to people is their life story...that's the one thing I learned
as a young boy from my relatives who had no money but were very wise. They
said, just remember there is not much difference separating the very successful
from the people that have had a lot of bad breaks in their lives. And everybody's
got a story. And people should be able to live their story, they should
be able to dream and live their story.''
The Indian Americans
who were present at the luncheon-- where the menu was an ingenious fusion
of Western and Indian which included corn polenta with portobello mushrooms,
potatoes with sterling caviar and Tandoori mixed grill accompanied by fine
Napa Valley wines--were obviously delighted by Clinton's unwavering enthusiasm
for India and the future of bilateral relations.
Suhas Patil, a icon in
the valley who founded Cirrus Logic reacting to Clinton's comments said:
''I liked his appeal to us to join public service and I truly believe that
the Indian American community will indeed participate more broadly in public
service--especially the next generation''. While K B Chandrasekhar, another
star in Silicon Valley said he liked the president's pitch to "all of us
to help poor people....the fact that while making money was good but how
we use the wealth was important". And Vish Akella, chairman and CEO of
Ample Communications said this highly successful event in hosting the president
would energise the community and invigorate them to involve more deeply
in politics.
And of course Bill Clinton's
fondness for Indian food was apparently once again evident at the fund-raiser
luncheon. His visits to Washington's ritzy Bombay Club have been meticulously
documented by food critics and epicures and so were his relishing the tasty
fare at Delhi Maurya Sheraton's Bukhara. He reminisced: ''Back when I was
a civilian and had a private life, I used to spend a lot of time in Indian
restaurants. I fell in love with them when I was living in England for
two years where most of the impoverished college students like me ate Indian
food at least four times a week. We figured if we could'nt be full, at
least we would be warm and we loved it''.
