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The Time Has Come
Barack Obama takes over as the
44th President of United States of America
WSN Bureau
 WASHINGTON:
On a bright but frigid day, Barack
Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of
the
United States of America
but the world knew that he is much more. Barack Obama knows that
too. He is a dream realised, and he is the one tasked to ensure that
everyone realises his or her dreams. Only God has that kind of
responsibility, and no doubt, Barack Obama was turning to Americans
and the right thinking people all over the world, and God, for help
to succeed.
"America
is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks
a future of peace and dignity." For years the world waited to listen
to such words.
Words of hope, words of solace, words that heal, not hurt. Barack
Obama seized the historic moment to invoke the "price and the
promise of citizenship", demanded that Americans dust themselves off
and get on with the work to restore the country to greatness, but
also struck a solemn tone in warning of the challenges and
sacrifices that lie ahead. He took the oath of office on Abraham
Lincoln's Bible, held in the gloved hands of Michelle Obama, before
a sea of people that stretched from the Capitol building to the
Lincoln Memorial. Obama celebrated his own achievement as the
nation's first African-American president but also implored his
fellow citizens to join him "in the work of remaking
America."
 All
inaugurations are a great rituals, but this was expected to surpass
the ritualism and touch hearts. It did. Many in the crowd were
weeping, and tears were welling up eyes across the globe as the
world watched the live telecast. President Obama, whose speech was
widely expected to touch the historical nature of the occasion,
asked for greater cooperation and understanding between nations but
more importantly, he chose to directly address the Islamic world:
“We seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and respect.”
What perhaps
elicited the loudest cheers was Barack Obama’s declaration that
“America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child
who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead
once more.” With Bush seated nearby, Obama also offered a clear
critique of his predecessor, saying, “We reject as false the choice
between our safety and our ideals.”
The mood was
festive, the security extra ordinary, the celebration colorful and
the mood was one of hope. Americans, by now sick of gloomy talk,
were shooting pictures, assessing the sartorial styles of the new
First Lady resplendent in yellow and discussing how cute the two
happy kids looked. Even at 1:30 in the morning, shops were open
downtown and packed with jubilant Obama supporters buying
memorabilia.
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"America is a friend of each nation and every
man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity." |
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Many would have
felt a sense of glee as, after Obama’s speech, he and his wife,
Michelle, escorted Bush and his wife, Laura, to their waiting
helicopter. “Close the door,” someone shouted, and there was as much
mirth all around as there was hope about the new comer. Later, the
Obamas, along with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, took
part in the customary inaugural parade up Pennsylvania Avenue to the
White House. For a few blocks, Obama and his wife got out of their
armored limousine and walked the parade route, waving, beaming, and
acknowledging the mobs of people who lined the streets. The Obamas
dropped by at many of the official inaugural balls held around the
city.
The inauguration
of Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and a Kansan mother, holds
special resonance for the country’s 37 million African-Americans, to
whom Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday celebration on Monday meant
something special this year.
Surely, when the
memories of this day shall fade and become foggy, we will all still
be looking back and remember that this was the moment when the dream
that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial reached the walls of the White House.
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‘We
reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals’ |
Perhaps a shout
may have gone up in heaven also: “We All Have Many Many Dreams Now!”
The burden of hope on Obama is heavy, but he wears it lightly.
“Let us mark
this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have
traveled,” Obama said, noting that “a man whose father less than 60
years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now
stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”
How many hearts
must have gladdened, and how many across the globe will try to look
for and find an Obama inside them is a matter that no empirical data
can ever prove.
We have all
heard all our lives that the world lives on hope. Rarely does a
generation watch so collectively the truth of that saying. Now that
a Black man lives in the White House, let us hope that the dream is
a dream of all. A dream of the Americans as much as a dream of the
Sikh nation.
21 January 2009
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