MUMBAI: Barack Obama chose two of Mumbai’s most iconic places to begin his maiden visit to India – the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and the former home of Mahatma Gandhi.
Both are more than just bricks and mortar to Indians. They also symbolise the wealth and aspirations of a confident nation and the hard won fight for freedom from British rule.
Obama recognised that the Taj now occupied another place in the Indian psyche after writing in the book of condolence at the memorial for the 31 people who died when heavily-armed gunmen stormed the hotel on November 26, 2008.
The Taj has become a symbol of the “strength and the resilience of the Indian people” because of the attacks, he said later in a speech, pledging continued support for the country in the fight against terrorism.
Obama’s visit to Mani Bhavan, in contrast, had the feel of a more personal pilgrimage.
The president cited Gandhi as a key influence, name-checked him in his Nobel peace prize speech and kept a portrait of him on the wall of his US Senate office. Another of Obama’s heroes, Martin Luther King, made the trip to the quiet, dusty, coconut tree-lined street in south Mumbai just over half a century ago.
Obama toured the library and saw the spinning wheel that Gandhi used, which was later incorporated into the Indian tricolor flag as a sign of national self-reliance. On seeing Dr King’s signature in one of the guest books, Obama remarked: “Pretty cool. 1959. What a great book.”
The symbolism in Obama’s respect for Gandhi, the modest Indian who preached non-violence, and King, the outspoken US civil rights leader, was hard to miss, as was the significance of Obama’s visit as the first African-American president.
“Obama is the fulfillment of Dr King’s dream,” Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi told Associated Foreign Press. “I think that tells you the significance of his visit,” he said, adding that the civil rights movement of the blacks in the US and the caste rights movement in India have very distinct parallels.
“I think he also stands for the rights of every downtrodden person in the world and for the hope that one day they can break through and achieve, not because of the colour of their skin or birth or standing in society but purely because of their ability as individuals,” he said.
