We shall overcome, together

Extracts from an editorial by Steve Alter '74, Development Director, in the Times of India, 18th January 2009. Click here for the full article

For a third-generation American, born and settled in India, there are selfish reasons to like Barack Obama. His election victory has made the world a more comfortable place for people who live between cultures. In America, and around the globe, he has asserted the presence of a large minority who combine ethnicities, national origins, religious heritage and varying shades of political persuasion. The best thing about Obama is that he is a difficult man to define; and this complexity is reassuring on a planet that is growing increasingly crowded and diverse. Those politicians who exploit jingoistic paranoia, whether they run for election in the United States, Kenya, India or anywhere else on the map, must realize that divisive rhetoric and racial or religious hatred are not an effective means of winning votes. Obama represents a broad spectrum of individuals who refuse to be constrained by a single identity. He may be the first African-American president, which is certainly something to celebrate, but Obama is far more than just that. His personal history and political success transcend the confines of chauvinistic labels.

... On September 11, 1893, Obama's home city of Chicago welcomed Swami Vivekananda at the World Parliament of Religions, a landmark event that introduced American thinkers to the philosophical and spiritual traditions of India. Over the past century, intellectual and cultural discourse between India and the US has fluctuated from a shared spirit of inquiry and mutual fascination to occasionally hostile suspicion. If ties between the two largest democracies are going to be strengthened, then the arts are just as important as government. A R Rahman receiving a Golden Globe Award, confirms that Bollywood and Hollywood are talking. (Even "Mr India" Anil Kapoor looked good in a tuxedo.) Hopefully, Obama was watching. Perhaps he's seen Slumdog Millionaire, a reminder that Mumbai, like Chicago, can produce stories of improbable success.

... Primary and secondary schools can also foster dialogue. One example of the fusion of knowledge that already exists between India and the US is Woodstock School. For over 150 years, in the foothills of the Himalayas, American high school diplomas have been awarded to students from India, the US and many other countries. In the early 1970s, along with courses in Indian literature and comparative religion, Woodstock offered an elective called Black Lit that included texts by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. For many students, this was their first introduction to the civil rights movement in America and now helps them appreciate the significance of an Obama presidency.