Business For Barack Obama; Hopscotch & Fun For Michelle

On reaching India, while US president Barack Obama virtually played salesman-in-chief for American companies/business, his wife Michelle Obama let her hair down and kicked off her shoes to play hopscotch, and sang and danced with children in Mumbai. The Indian media gave her as much publicity as her famous husband.

The Indian Express reported: “It’s not everyday that a First Lady takes off her shoes and starts dancing. But hours after she landed in Mumbai, Michelle Obama did just that. At Mumbai University, where she spent time with 23 differently-abled students, Michelle danced to numbers from (Bollywood film) Rang De Basanti and even played games.

The Hindu stated: “Driving home the power of education and its ability to let you achieve great heights, First Lady Michelle Obama forged a bond with children of Mumbai orphanages by alluding to her own humble upbringing. Ms. Obama met 23 children from four orphanages and volunteers of Make A Difference (MAD), a voluntary association of students, at Mumbai University here on Saturday.

“All the students and volunteers received mementos from the First Lady. Bags with the picture of the White House and sporting Ms. Obama’s signature were distributed among them. With stationery comprising a writing pad and colour pens, was a stuffed toy – a Portuguese Water dog named Bo. A tag round Bo’s neck had all the trivia on the Obama family’s dog.”

Here’s the AP report: “The girls wore their salwar kameez — traditional long shirts and baggy trousers — and glittering dupatta scarves. Mrs. Obama, dressed in an olive blouse and delicate flowered skirt, also joined a drum and tambourine circle with the children. She banged on a tambourine while the kids pounded on drums.”

Mr Barack Obama on his first day in India made it clear as to what was uppermost in his mind. The DNA reports: “ ‘The deals being announced today totalling $10 billion in US exports… today’s deals will lead to more than 50,000 jobs back home,’ announced US president Barack Obama while delivering the keynote address at the US-India Business and Entrepreneurship Summit on Saturday.

“He (Obama) may have been addressing the who’s who of corporate world assembled at the venue, but it was not lost on anyone that he was primarily addressing US audiences back home.” More here…

Here’s CBS News: “Much of the president’s message is aimed at the domestic audience still adjusting to the new political reality that saw Mr. Obama and his party suffer devastating losses. The political setback is obviously never far from the president’s thoughts.

“In a Mumbai speech , he praised, ‘the most effective form of government the world has ever known: democracy…even if sometimes the election doesn’t turn out as you’d like.’ There was polite laughter among the Indian and American business leaders in the audience.” More here…

A quote by a well-known Indian editor, Vinod Mehta, doing the round on Twitter: “Ask not what Obama can do for India, but what India can do for Obama!”

A few days before Obama’s visit Saturday, U.S. and Indian security officials visited the small two-story building and ordered the looping off of ripe coconuts from the trees to prevent any accidental bonking. More here…

Obama Visits Gandhi Museum, “He Is a Hero Not Just to India, But to The World”. See here…

In a Delhi hotel an exciting menu awaits the Obamas…Murg khurchan, fish tikka, sikandari raan, tandoori aloo and reshmi kebab are among the seven dishes that have been selected for the platter of the President, who is slated to visit Delhi with his wife Michelle Obama. Among the desserts, he would have a choice between ras malai and kulfi, a dish that won Hillary Clinton’s approval. More here…