I’ve never been to an inauguration, despite my decade in D.C. So, I set out on a special Presidential Inauguration bus route, via my special Presidential Inauguration Metro card, which took me to the security perimeter. From there I walked in frigid temperatures to get to the Presidential Inauguration Metro train which would, it turns out, NOT take me to my intended destination.
Due to crowd control concerns, WMATA quickly shut down two train stations while I was underground, in transit, and packed in so tightly with other would-be attendees, that I felt assaulted every time someone moved an elbow. Everyone was aware of a different station which had been closed earlier; they announced it was unexpectedly reopening just as we pulled away from it. Too late. At this point, they had closed the last three stations at which we could have exited and we were well past the stop we needed. I started to worry about logistics as previously cheery train inhabitants cursed under their breath.
I hastily exited the Metro the moment I was able to, and I still ended up on the wrong side of the Capitol building. I had just over an hour to trudge through brutal, 11 degree weather, while attempting to avoid idling charter buses spewing exhaust, forbidding barricades, chaotic Police checkpoints and of course, thousands of people who were alternately shivering in their Uggs or shouting “Woooo! Obama!”.
The only thing I could think about was how I was thisclose to missing the whole point of the day, the whole point of the last two years, and it was all because of my bad luck with Metro. I tried to be mindful and prepare myself for the worst; if I was too late to get through security or move through the sludge of confused people faster than one mile per hour, I could say that I tried. That I had experienced the cold and the crowds and the optimism which was muffled by scarves, earmuffs and gloves. Que sera, sera…
I barely expected to make it to my rooftop viewing party in time for pomp and circumstance. I certainly did not expect to see a copy of Obama’s speech before he delivered it. And I definitely did not expect to be in tears when our new President recognized a faith which I respect, but don’t practice.
One thing at a time.
Ugly, numbing cold. I don’t remember ever being out in such cold, certainly not in D.C., nor when I lived in New York, and ran out to the bodega in flip-flops while there was snow on the ground. I’m watching the evening news as I type this, and the weatherman just scoffed “Welcome to Chicago”, as he characterized the way the day felt. “This is not D.C. weather,” he added, and I wanted to thank him for stating the obvious.
It was so cold, I almost regretted my infamous, stubborn refusal to wear hosiery. Almost. I am a Californian, after all. There are some things I will not tolerate. Socks with super cute flats are a bullet point among hundreds of others on my “Oh, HELL no…”-list.
I asked someone in camouflage about the address I was trying to find, amid the chaos. He confirmed information with a superior and then pointed to an edifice two blocks away. I almost sprinted to it, after thanking him profusely. I was, after all, sock-less. And late.
Before entering the blessed building, I saw a freshly-printed sign on the glass doors: “NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS”. I had seen similar on most of the chartered buses I passed. In fact, the “restroom”-issue had dominated almost every conversation I had overheard, on my way from the wrong metro stop back to the Capitol. Whether they were discussing the ramifications of breaking in to non-inauguration-related facilities or fuming over the allegedly plush, hardwood-floored, HEATED port-a-potties reserved for politicians and dignitaries, the masses yearned to be free. To pee. Or not to pee. I really don’t want to go there.
Bathroom information was the first thing I saw at my destination. The second thing? People. Everywhere. They were trying to escape the elements. The building had an extensive lobby with a gift shop, a coffee shop, one of those usurious pay-by-the-pound-and-get-a-$14-salad places and another store I could not see. It was almost impossible to walk to the far-end of the corridor I was surveying, which is where I needed to check in with security, because of all the exhausted and cold people curled up on the tile floor.
I suddenly recalled a prominent “no loitering” sign on the front door, just as a young mother who was sitting on blankets in a corner smiled weakly at me, while bouncing an infant. Meanwhile, the line for coffee snaked through these weary, huddled people and I wasn’t surprised. The idea of a hot cup of anything seemed delicious. Maybe I should have broken open one of the hand-warming things I discovered at CVS. Truly, I am a Left-coast-native because I had neither seen nor heard of such magical plastic packets until this week.
After gingerly picking my way through hundreds of Inaugural attendees, I stated my purpose to a security person guarding a bank of elevators and was whisked through. The wistful looks on people’s faces reminded me to be grateful that unlike a million others, I would be warm, near food and drink, and yes, permanent bathrooms while being a witness to history. I’d been VIP at clubs before in my younger, stupider days, but nothing I’ve experienced felt as elite as bypassing all those people. Forget bottle service; getting invited to an event like this was a real luxury, and I mentally asked my deity of choice what I had done to deserve such an opportunity.
Once upstairs, despite making it in time to see everything, I couldn’t relax. I wanted to continue live-blogging via Twitter, but I suddenly lost service on my wee Centro, which had allowed me to post updates while underground, on the subway but not eight stories up in the air. A million people sending picture mail to friends would derail my mutinous plans. “At least I didn’t announce I would be doing it on SM, so no one will be disappointed”, I muttered to myself. My perceptive host offered me coffee with a liberal amount of Bailey’s in it and I suddenly remembered that none of you really care whether I liveblog. Wheee!
Now I was enjoying myself, but the best part of my morning was minutes away. Mid-sip, I was slipped a copy of the President’s Inaugural address over an hour before he was to present it. I was astonished by what I held in my hands. Remember two paragraphs up, when I talked about the luxury of bypassing waiting in line? Forget that. This was real privilege. I skimmed furiously and then I saw it.
It.
A word.
One word.
One word which changed everything for me, and maybe, you.
“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.“
Don’t ask me why I nearly choked on a far more impressive H-bomb, because I don’t quite know how to explain all the things I felt at that moment. I will try to define it and will almost certainly fail, but I must try because even now, just remembering and writing about it causes tears to cover my eyes.
After spending close to three decades either being mistaken for a Hindu by those who were unaware of the existence of Christianity in India or gently reminding my peers that to conflate “Desi” or “Indian” with “Hindu” was wrong, I was shaking because I felt recognized and included– and all because of the thoughtful, enlightened inclusion of a faith of which I am not a member, in one of the most important Inaugural addresses in our entire history.
Upon reflection, I know why I felt that surge of emotion, which I almost felt like I had no right to. I may not be Hindu, but nearly everyone whom I meet assumes that I am, and perception is a powerful thing. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were seen as potential saboteurs; other Asians took to wearing buttons which declared “Chinese” or “Not from Nippon”. My point is not to endorse craven yet understandable tactics but to point to how powerful “perception” is.
You are what you look like. And to the vast majority of the world, I look Hindu. I’m not ashamed of that at all. Today, I felt celebrated for it. I felt included, even though my actual faith was mentioned first, in a group which was organized by a man magnanimous, courageous and heedful enough to include “non-believers”.
This was extraordinary.
I had to tell all of you, so you could witness it too, live, and not on YouTube or a later airing of some news program. I grabbed my phone and prayed that it would work as I tweeted an alert to any and all of you who either know the fail whale or follow Facebook (which Twitter can auto-update). Several of you got the message and when I finally reached my warm home this afternoon and checked my GMail, I was gratified by our shared joy over phrasing.
I don’t think it was a spoiler; I’d like to think it was an opportunity for a mutineer to whisper in your ear a precious secret. Though I knew it was coming, it didn’t dull the impact of hearing a resonant voice announce that list. Knowing of such inclusion in advance didn’t dampen my enthusiasm, nor did it prevent the dampening of my face. Even if he hadn’t hit it out of the park with his right religiousness, these remarks would have done me in:
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life.
And at that moment, though I probably wasn’t meant to, I thought of my parents, who came here separately for a common goal: a better life. My Mother packed the only three silk saris she owned and left India. She wore those saris in the snow, in Oklahoma, palloo drawn tightly around her shoulders because she didn’t yet own a winter coat. Forty years ago, my Father quietly fretted over the “eight dollars” he had in his hand and how and when he’d be able to replace them. With no relatives here before them, surely they knew they were destined to struggle initially. But they fearlessly traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For me and for my sister, they toiled, sometimes working two jobs to pay tuition for the best schools they could afford. They did settle in the West, leaving the harsh winters of the Great Plains for Southern California, where I was born. Later, when they proudly purchased their first home, they realized with dismay that the garden they had dreamed of planting would not, could not be, because of the clay in our backyard. So they plowed that hard, messy earth, brought in topsoil, composted before it was virtuous and trendy, and grew curry leaves, bittermelon, okra, tomatoes, long flat beans, taro and vegetables I have never seen again, in order to feed us wholesome food without driving hours away to the nearest farmer’s market to procure it.
Four decades of my family’s history refined, magnified, sanctified. Contained within a few lines, delivered via a few minutes of oratory, it felt like a punch to the gut, and that was before I realized that he wasn’t talking about my parents.
I blinked and felt mascara smudge as I realized I didn’t care whom he was talking about, because it felt like he was speaking to me. Me me, the me I’m not sure everyone sees. I had attempted to remain studiously neutral during the election, ostensibly for the sake of this website, but mostly because I didn’t want to be disappointed by one candidate who seemed too good to be true even as another candidate disappointed me with his inability to make sound decisions. “I’m Switzerland,” I often mumbled to myself, recalling the phrase my younger sister and I utilized when we were small and strange.
But when you’re standing there, in brilliantly bright January light, with a clear sight-line of a man who has seen you, really seen you, who has acknowledged not just you, but your entire history, too, it is impossible to be Swiss or neutral. All I could be was American. And humbled. And grateful, to finally be included.
Anna,
Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us!
Thank you Anna. The whole day has been poignant
1 · Lusterbee said
Thank you for being kind enough to read all of it! I thought it was going to be a nice, brief post when I started it at 5:30, and that I’d get to nap by 6:30. Ha. 🙂
::
In case anyone is curious as to where the image in my post is from, it’s a screen-shot from this great site which Abhi told me about. Lots of fun for speech and debate nerds, language nerds, people with far too much time on their hands, etc. 😉
awesome!
Terrific graph! Thanks for the post, I know it must have been an exhausting day
Abraham Lincoln was the first and as yet the only president to have said ‘Hot’ in his presidential address. I thought I’d share that. ‘Sex’ and ‘marijuana’ are yet to make an appearance. Although President Taft did share his fondness for ‘Tobacco’ in 1909. Dare we dream of Bobby saying ‘parantha’ in 201X?
That site [See comment #3] is great funn.
Anna you witnessed history…Congrats !!
Thank you Anna. I too gasped immediately when I heard the word Hindus and felt so proud and included. This is indeed a great moment in history.
Usually Buddhists get mentioned ahead of Hindus. Not this time though. I bet Richard Gere is going to be on TV expressing frustration in the coming days.
I’m happy that he included non-believers in the list. Listing some religions and excluding others is a slippery slope. Ideally, I’d have liked something like “our nation includes different people who believe in different stories and some who do not believe in any of the offered stories.”
It’s a good start though.
🙂
I actually cried when I heard Mr. President mention “Hindus”. I don’t know why but I did cry.
Somehow I felt good abt my kids future.
Dammit, Sikhs almost made the cut! I tell them to keep going for the top FOUR, and no one ever listens. They’re happy with being 5th. Maybe next election.
Nice post on a stirring speech.
Funnily enough, the H-word slipped right by me because of what followed: “nonbelievers”!!! Also never used by any president before. Now that’s much more impressive and radical, isn’t it?
6 · khoofi said
Lincoln also used the word ‘cool’ in his Cooper Union Address.
Ever since this morning, I’ve been tortured by one question: is it a more sincere show of emotion if one cries, or if one creams one’s pants? And, which is gayer? Of course, I am only asking on behalf of a friend.
14 · maxwell smart said
I also hereby confirm that no president has thus far used the words ‘boat’, ‘goat’, ‘mottai’, or ‘oingoboingo’ yet. President Bush has however used ‘immigrant’. Yay for Mr GWB.
According to that Speech Wars site, William Henry Harrison used the word “the” 829 times…over twice as many times as any other president. If you look at the percentages graph for “the”, it’s been used less and less since around 1880-ish. Strange…
I loved the post-I felt the same way! I hope you don’t mind me sharing this post on my blog. Thanks!
Yes, but why did he omit Scientologists? Does he not accept the reality of Xenu and his DC-8-looking spacecraft? What about Pastafarians? Why is he in denial about the spaghetti-nature of his own brain? Does he have something against volcanoes and Olive Garden? When can we get a Head of State who is not afraid to mention the names of oppressed religions, leave alone practicing their beliefs?
OK, all snark aside, I’m glad he mentioned it. Thanks for the post Anna.
Well, the dude did chatter (in all senses of the word) for several hours in freezing cold before he caught pneumonia and died a month later. His “the”/minute ratio should probably still be average.
Strangely enough, Clinton in 1997 did not say “is” all that much. Pre-Lewinsky depositions I suppose.
Nice post Anna! I felt the same way (even as a Christian desi). Although I got a lot more teary when he spoke of his father not being able to get service about 60 years ago in America. That reminded of my uncle in Pakistan, who was refused service for not being Muslim. And I had to cry. But I digress. Glad you were safe and able to reach your destination.
yes, it was great that “hindu” was said and MORESO that non-believers were mentioned. but i’m looking forward to the day when GOD and religion are not ever mentioned, not once, in a political speech. separation of religion and state, please!
Incidentally, this was also the first time ‘jews’ was used. There have been only two times that ‘Christians’ have been spoken of – the last being Prez Lincoln. The credit for remembering ‘cattle’ in his address goes to Mr McKinley. No one has spoken of a ‘dromedary’ yet, but the time shall come. ‘Canada’ got the cold shoulder although ‘Mexico’ got love twice in the nineteenth century. ‘Benin’ seems to have been deliberately left out, no doubt because of the conspiracy against ‘Africa’, despite Dwight E’s effort, by the ‘goths’ who have cleverly kept undercover through the centuries. It has also led to the omission of ‘goatfacekillas’ from speeches and I think that’s disrespectful of the halal tradition.
In American politics, it is common to hear triumphal statements about things like honesty and courage and the words correspondingly mean less. But it is not often that gracious things are said about distant cultures, about those less fortunate or powerful and it is even more rare to hear the foreign, the weak or the poor mentioned with anything approximating fellowship. Perhaps this is why the mention of Hindus resonates. The mention of Muslims would too except that that has acquired an air of ritual since 9/11. The mention of the village of his birth in Africa is another case in point.
The parts that resonated most were words that related to something real. For instance admitting that his father would have been refused service in local restaurants 60 years ago. Or the hand reaching out to those who would unclench their fist.
The part that made me cringe was the one where references were made to the values that made the defeat of Fascism and Communism possible. Some truly rotten things were done in the name of those triumphs.
Just to flog our favourite dead horse one more time, Presidents have said “Indian” eight times, while “South Asian” has not been mentioned even once 😀
He is such a powerful speaker, I cannot think of any political leader in my time, (last 25 years) who inspired as much as this man. I was watching with my granddad that I had to explain what was going on because of his blindness. But for his speech I put on the phat new headphones I got him when it came on. When over he said “did you hear he mentioned Hindu as wellâ€.
I saw your facebook status and thought oh cool, when he said it was WOW. Excellent post anna, was indeed looking forward to your account of the day.
Writing from India. To read what you have written is so touching..I have a lump in my throat. I have no commonality with any of the experiences of you and your family, but you made me feel it all!
Yes, but all of those references were to Native Americans.
Anna, this is your best post ever and I haven’t even read the whole thing.
it was an amazing experience to be there for that moment in the crowd of 2 million… me and momma bean made the journey via plane, train, and automobile from the left coast with tickets for the event… despite us waking up at 4am, not being used to 11 degree temperatures (we left 86 degrees), waiting in swarms of people for 3 hours before being let in, where we waited patiently for 3 more hours, directly behind the reflection pool, it was WORTH it..
to be included in part of a moment of history… to be included in an inauguration speech (when he mentioned hindus), gave me and my mother an incredible thrill, incredible joy, incredible hope.
we are simply thrilled!
@29 I was only kidding, Abhi.
I was really glad to see him mention Hindus. His close friendship with so many desis, along with his trip to Karachi and Hyderabad (Sindh) as a student make him the most Desi-identified President ever.
thanks for a lovely post anna. not sure if this is relevant but my mom is christian from india and my dad is hindu. i felt all goose bumpy as well on hearing obama say hindu. what a cool guy.
Anna, how did you get to see a copy of the speech before he gave it?? Good connections?
beautiful.
12 · Fuerza Dulce said
Oh..ya…. That was perhaps because of the controversy of D-Punjab in his team 😉
35 · Dasichist said
Several journalists got those copies. As a mega south asian blog, SM bloggers have a strong presence in “new age electronic” media, I presume. hence the vip status. Actually websites such as ABC and dailypress and some others carried the transcript as planned as early as 10:11 am.
thank you for sharing your experience! i, like you, thought of my parents and all of our parents who came from such a different world to forge a life in this new world…for us. their struggles were difficult beyond anything we will or can ever comprehend.
as i watched the inaugaration I thought of the man who would be leading our country and his journey thus far,his ancestors’ journey and how it was almost surreal that he was the heir to the 44th seat of the presidency of the US.
i thought of the reason why all our parents came here, not just for a better life, but for a life that was worthy of surrealism and pinching one’s self to make sure it is not all a dream.
The topic is not whether Obama is really “black” or racism in the Desi community. The topic IS yesterday’s Inaugural address. You want to share your experiences with the inauguration? Fine. You want to troll about Obama? Deleted.
Great, and very touching post!
…though i dont understand the part about crying!
Sorry to bring this up but wasnt there a post not too long ago about Indian Americans, Indians, south asian and I remember most of the people had a VERY different stand (assumption wasnt very kindly regarded). Double Standards, seriously.
I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade, but…
Does this actually change anything?? Does Obama’s inclusion of Hindus really signal the acceptance of Hinduism as an “American” relgion? Or was he just pandering to a group that consistently votes for the Democratic party?
This post kinda reminds me of the one about Hindu squats… You know, the one where an Amreekan guy gave his approval of some aspect of our culture, and we started jumping for joy because of it, however insignificant it may have been?
Anna, what a wonderful post. You so evoked the moment. I didn’t watch it on TV, so reading your post was just like being there, battling the crowds and all. As an oldtimer, I still (sort of) remember my first Presidential Inauguration after coming to the US – which was Ronald Reagan’s second – in 1985. I remember it being a similarly cold day in the DC area. They don’t seem to have given the weather much thought when they moved Inauguration from March to January! And I watched GHW Bush’s inauguration on TV, 1989, and I also remember Clinton’s first inauguration, 1993, when Maya Angelou recited. But all the others since then have been a blur. I think I’ll remember this one for a long time, now more than ever because of your post. Also, sometimes the little things – like the flubbed Roberts line during the oath – stick in your mind. As I was listening on radio – for a moment, when the flub happened and Obama hesitated, it was the scariest thing, and many other hearts must also have skipped a beat. After all the down-to-the-minute rehearsals, with the look-alike stand-ins, this, I thought. But now it’s all over, and the heretofore-never-imaginable moment came, and become part of a history we all shared in. Thank you for bringing it to us in your inimitable way, anxieties, exhilarations, and all.
I actually found this be an example of exclusiveness, not inclusiveness.
What about Sikhs? Buddhists? Jains? Taoists? Shintoists? are we just “non-believers”? My Sikh friend and I were watching the inauguration and starting cracking up, because apparently that’s how we’re ranked…
Here’s an idea: let’s not have any mention of religion at all, or if we have to bring it up, let’s just note that America is a country with many faiths, rather than just naming four.
thanks, ANNA – i cannot even imagine how thrilling it was to be there. i didn’t vote for obama, but it’s a big day for the whole nation, i think. yes, we finally have a president who is not a white christian man, but more so,one who has really rejuvenated the possibiity of hope for many of its citizens, and at a time when we need it greatly. i really do hope great things comes from obama.
47 · dharmakirti said
i do think it should have been worded better – perhaps mentioning that there are other religions – but i think what he meant was “even non-belevers,” rather than to include all other faiths into that category. i do like that he gave a nod to those who don’t practise organized religion, even if the word choice (non-beleiver to me sounds like you have no beliefs at all) could have been better. and overall, i think it’s nice that at least two “minority” religions got a nod in an inaugural address. as much as his speech can be picked apart for the religions that it did not include, it was not meant to encompass every single aspect of his beliefs and policies – and i think the religions that he did include is no little thing. at the very least, it’s a start.
This is exactly what I thought when he mentioned Hindus – I was elated and felt included (especially being a new American citizen and voting for the first time). Great post – thank you, thank you, thank you. (Ok, sigh! – come again)
I was equally thrilled when he included “non-believers” in the same sentence. In god fearing America (the kind Rick Warren would prefer), atheists get a very bad rap. Most surveys show that a openly atheist person has much smaller chance of being elected to public office than any other minority in the US. So thank you Obama for including us too. May your God bless you.
Also, Michelle gave a shoutout to desi gals