It is with great joy that i write that title.
The whole country of India seems thrilled with Obama. From our wealthy landlord who told us emphatically and urgently "OH you MUST vote for Obama, you must!" to one Indian student at the institute who cried out with the good news "Oh it is BRILLIANT! I must go watch the tele!", to all the rickshaw drivers who have commented "Obama, good man, good man". Most of the rickshaw drivers do not speak english really, but they all know Obama and know how to say that he is a good man. The most common question we get here is "Where from you are?" When we respond USA the response often has to do with Obama. This was the case before the election, and of course after as well. I love this.
It is a little bittersweet for those of us here in pune - we celebrated and are as happy and proud as can be - but i think it is the first time many of us really wished we were home. When I realized that I would be here for the election I was disappointed, but also trying to remember the positive - that I would have the unique experience of witnessing the Indian reaction to the election. And it has been great - but god I have never missed chicago more in my life. I am so happy to see the pictures (thanks beth) of my friends and family at the speech and to hear what it was like. It is overwhelming to see the crowds, to see chicago, to see a snapshot of this incredible moment in our lives. I wish i had been there to experience it all with you and my fellow chicagoans. But we did our best to celebrate here in Pune...
We are 10.5 hours ahead here, so going to bed on Tuesday night was a little like christmas. We were all so excited, so nervous, so impatient and feeling a bit like we were all going to puke. When I woke up on wednesday morning I immediately called eve to hear any news. At this point we found out that he had Ohio and Pennsylvania! I immediately went in and woke up the two friends staying with me, and they made calls home as well. All morning we drank our chai and called people we knew and shouted, what about florida? do they know about indiana yet?! We were so jacked up it was kind of ridiculous that we actually had to go to yoga class. It was the women's class - so my friend aaron went to hang out and check out the progress at the internet while we went to class. The buzz in the room was inaudible but definitely detectable. We waited and waited for aaron to show up on the stairs with a sign.
And then there he was. I stared and stared at him as he tried to find me in the crowd of students. I turned my head in poses in ways i shouldnt to see him. And finally he saw me and he smiled the hugest smile and then I smiled the hugest smile until I thought my face would break.
Finally class ended and as we put the props away all you could here is "he won!". Outside of the institute we shared the news and screamed and hugged and cried and jumped up and down. The americans the loudest, but all the germans, the brits, the canadians, and of course the Indians joined in. I dont know where the russians were.
We rushed to the restaurant that is like our "cheers" to watch his speech on the internets. On the way I couldnt contain myself - hollered out to who ever I could "obama won!". One rickshaw driver heard me and smiled and said 'yes!' and nodded matching my enthusiasm. Our enthusiasm was squashed a bit when we couldnt get the speech downloaded. This was one of the times I wished pune had bars or somewhere with tvs. They just dont exist here. Or i dont know where they are. But we gathered together in a hotel room and watched the speech on the indian news and cried.
That night we had a little Pune obama party. My friend aaron and I made matching t-shirts (check out an actual picture on www.aarongoestoindia.blogspot.com) we had a toast, and celebrated. It is a treat to celebrate with an international crowd.
The next day we bought up all the papers we could. Every single paper was covered with the news. Most of the articles focused on the fact that obama is the first black president, and every time printed his whole name including his middle name hussein. More than a few times his muslim family members were mentioned. They were full of quotes like "the civil war has ended!". Or the headline in the Hindustani Times "Change has come to America. The United States' first black president elect carries the world's hope that he can heal it". A better quote i think was again another rickshaw driver who said something like "obama, he is brown like me, a good man a good man".
I swear I feel different now. I feel that now I can hold my head high and the next time someone asks "where from you are?" that i can announce with pride (finally) "USA!!!"
