Obamaguration day

by Aditha DISSANAYAKE in New York

Here is a president who reads the tragedies of Shakespeare, a president who is enthralled by Herman Melvil’s Moby-Dick, Gandhi’s autobiography, The Song of Solomon, the poems of Elizabeth Alexander but confesses he himself writes “very bad poetry”. Here is a president who is slim and athletic he is considered by fashion experts as a tailor’s dream. Here is a president with the talent to woo the entire world with his speeches. Here is a president...the list could go on as endless as the night of his inauguration which lasted till the early hours of the next day in the form of ten inaugural balls. But who really is Barak . H. Obama? Is there a private figure behind that too cool, too calm, too self-contained public figure?

You wouldn’t want to know. Immovable under pressure, never off balance, hailed as ‘no-drama-Obama’, as the man on whose shoulders the expectations and faith of the entire world rests, he has to be all this. And more. No wonder most New Yorkers see their new president as someone who is “phenomenal”.

Many used the same adjective to describe the inauguration too, of the 44th President of their nation. The single-most electrifying moment not only in the history of America, but the entire world. Calling it either Obamaguration or inaugobama, most New Yorkers who could not make it to Washington D.C last Tuesday gathered around large screen TVs to watch and cheer the new president as he kept his hand on the worn out Abraham Lincoln Bible and took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol, ironically, built on the backs of slaves.

Minutes later in his inaugural speech, he reminded everyone how things had changed. “A man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

Though the exodus to Washington was great, there were plenty of enthusiasts still left in New York on this day of anointment, to gather around giant TV screens braving the cold weather. Beatrice Davis, who had been standing since 8:30 a.m. on 125th Street in Harlem said to a reporter from the Am New York, “There are chills running down my body, and it’s not because it’s cold”. Charise Miller, from the Bronx sobbed uncontrollably as she watched the swearing-in ceremony.

Though she said “I am speechless” she did find the words to describe how happy she was because her 99-year-old grandmother, who once was denied the right to vote, lived to help elect the first black president. “We’ve achieved another milestone - as a country, not just as a person of colour.”

With an Obama - Dr. King button pinned to her coat Kathleen from the Bronx said “ Martin Luther King had a dream and today that dream came true. It may not have been when he wanted it, but that day did come”.

Meanwhile, when President George W. Bush appeared on a screen at Times Square, several in the crowd sang: “Na na, goodbye.”

But there were also those who still had praise for No. 43. Several die-hard “Bushites” said it was unfair to write off George W. Bush as the worst president ever when there had not been enough time yet to reflect on his policies and actions. Among those who said they will miss the ex-president was Bronwell from Manhattan who yearned for “Bush’s demeanour, his attitude and his sense of humour”. Many others felt he had a true approachability to him that they rarely saw in politicians.

Even after the main events of the inauguration came to an end, the sense of festivity continued to hover in the cold Manhattan air. While the Obamas enjoyed their post inaugural lunch of a hearty seafood stew and sponge cake in D.C, New York was crammed with spots offering everything from cocktails with names as “Give Bush the Boot” to cookies with Obama written in icing on them.

The evening saw many glued to their TVs, proud that the one-shoulder Grecian style gown worn by Michelle Obama to the inauguration ball was designed by a 26 year old New Yorker.

Things did not end there, though. The day after the inauguration, Penn Station was crowded with those who were returning from Washington D.C.

Among the adjectives everyone used to describe the event were amazing, memorable and of course the inevitable phenomenal. Stephen from a public school in Brooklyn said he was glad he had gone to DC because this was something he could tell his grandchildren one day. His brother in a more pensive mood said he had learnt something from the new president. “You can do anything if you wanted”.

But Daniel, who had just landed in New York from a long bus-ride from DC, said it best. “I think the whole world stopped to listen. And I think they heard that it’s time all of us got back to work.”

Now that the packing and the unpacking at the White House is over, now that the most looked-forward to, and talked about transition of power in recent memory has become history, it is time to hold one’s breath and watch how the first African-American president of the United States will hold the center before things fall completely apart.

Chances are they won’t. Because here is a man who believes success depends on “hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism”.

Things which may be old, but things which are true.