More Love

Love

Over!

Well, no sooner do I - from afar - claim that this was a good campaign between honorable men then I get a few pointed e.mails (as always, from each side of the aisle) that declare how it was NOT a good campaign, etc. That, in reality, the other guy has horns and carries a pitchfork.......

Well, I guess being far away from the campaign has advantages, then.

Anyway, I can say a few things that personally reflect my views:

- It will be a new opportunity for America to be seen in a better light from the other countries of the world where our reputation has been tarnished in recent years. And, yes, this is important.

- Obama was an expat as a child. We hope that the current experience will benefit our children as adults, so we will watch with special interest how he interacts with the rest of the world. It promises to be vastly better set of interactions than what we've had, so there's nothing but upside here.

- It will be nice to hear consistently from someone of eloquence for the first time in a *long* time.

- It is a remarkable country that can confront its racial past and move to a place where we can have a black President. I have always maintained that when Alan Keyes beat Bob Dole in Minnesota (of all places!) during the 1996 Republican primary, the writing was on the wall - we can, in fact, judge someone by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.

In some ways, this is the fruition of MLK's speech that inspires all Americans. Perhaps the mountain top is a little more clear today.

- On the other hand, I have as of yet never seen such adoration placed on a President. I think it can be risky to hold someone in such high esteem, as we have seen, right? I wonder if there will be as much critical thought in the next four years - that is what a democracy needs to thrive. Time will tell. One of my friends from college says that he is troubled by so many of our friends "...doing the Dear Leader thing."

I spent countless hours in political debate with a good friend back in Charlotte, and I once posed him the following question about George Bush - "Is there a single Bush policy, idea, statement, or action that you absolutely disapprove of?" He couldn't come up with anything and asked for time to find one (it's been three years now). So, I worry a bit that the inverse is coming from the left over the next four years.

Again, we'll see.

Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, however your hopes and/or disappointments are manifested or co-mingled today, and how ever you feel about what is ahead for America - I think we can all feel proud as Americans today that something exceptional has happened, and that thing says a great deal about the ultimate character of our people.

Anyway - this blog can get back to being about life in India now. Tara was in the crowd who attended the election coverage at the Novotel Hotel this morning. She will be in the papers tomorrow, hope some of it will be online for you to see.

Best to all!

Big Day in America

One more day....

...there will be election-watching gatherings at some major points here in Hyderabad. All in our wee-hours of the morning our time. Should make for interesting viewing. I plan to get the final word from an eleptical machine.

Will the left be generous in victory, and the right humble in defeat? Will the country proceed on a more civil tone after this election? I, personally, hope so. And that really seems to be the dynamic - Obama will almost certainly win. If not, this blog can be the "Dewey Defeats Truman" of the 21st century.

It's interesting to watch this from afar.

I hope we all can acknowledge that we have not had two candidates of this quality in many, many years. And if you don't agree with that comments, what are you thinking? I think even the most partisan must acknowledge Kerry-Bush as the nadir of our democracy, nay?

Just go through the presidential contests:

Kerry-Bush
Gore-Bush
Clinton-Dole
Clinton-Bush Sr.
Bush Sr.-Dukakis
Reagan-Mondale
Reagan-Carter

The rest.... too long ago for me to remember off of the top of my head.

This one is vastly more engaging and we should feel proud at the crest of quality that we have right now.

Get out and vote your conscience!

Halloween snaps

^ A picture from Halloween. We'll depend on the kindness of others, Tara forgot the camera and I was in Mumbai during the Halloween party.

In our neighborhood they actually had candy at most of the houses! It was said to have been fun for the kids.

Diwali pictures

Some pictures from our day off during Diwali.



^ The pool.



^ The Walden Club.





^ Various of the special rangoli out on the street for Diwali.







^ Some glimpses of the hellacious fireworks from that night. It is hard to describe what it is like to see a whole city light up at once, and for hours. Fantastic. At one point there was a 20 minute long strip of crackers that went off down the middle of the road. 20 minures...




^ You have to love what you find when the kids get a hold of the camera on their own.