I wished, I so wished that I were there in front of
the U.S. Capitol when history was being made. I am not an American citizen, yet
the electricity that swept the country on 20 January had not left me untouched.
An eloquent speech delivered by Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President
of the United States, carried messages of hope for Americans as well as people all
over the world. I am lucky to have lived this historical moment when the first
African-American president of the United States was sworn in.
"I had been planning to be at Obama's
inauguration for the last one month, and my visit to the National Mall on
January 20 was completely worth the effort,” said Tejaswini Madabhushi, an Indian
student at George Mason University in Virginia. “There were huge applauses for
Obama, his family, Hillary Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Bush and Cheney were
booed rather loudly - an experience that couldn't have been properly felt on
the television screen. I screamed and danced like everybody else," she
added.
I myself was at St. Cloud State University’s ballroom
to watch the inauguration ceremony on a projection screen. Everyone in the
audience stood up and clapped when Obama walked toward the podium. I was amazed
at the respect that people showed for a person who they were only watching on
screen. It was a well-deserved ovation, I thought. The hall burst into roaring
applauses from hundreds of pairs of hands after the pledge was taken. There
weren't only Americans in the crowd, but students and faculty members from
Asian and African countries, all gathered to watch history as it unfolded.
Radia Abdul Wahab, a Bangladeshi graduate student of
Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.,
said that her university observed the Inauguration Day as a holiday. Radia, who
lives in Alexandria, Virginia, said that the parking lot of the metro station
close to her home was full by 4:00 a.m. in the morning -there were people
everywhere. "My husband decided to work from home, considering the heavy
traffic on roads," she added.
As I watched the inauguration of the 44th President of
the United States, my mind journeyed back to the 2008 U.S. Elections night. I
was at home that night, following news updates on Google and waiting for the
historical announcement to be made. The Internet speed was fluctuating wildly,
so I left for campus a little after 10:00 p.m. After all, I didn't want to miss
the live coverage of Obama's victory speech at Grant Park, Chicago.
I don't know if I grew too emotional but tears did
fill my eyes when the MSNBC camera from time to time relayed images of Jesse
Jackson, the legendary American civil rights activist. I don't know what
emotions the tears of Jackson carried. I wonder how it must have felt for the
black people across America when they heard Obama deliver his victory speech.
It must have been one of those too-good-to-be-true moments. The new American
President has proved that a candidate's skin colour can be a secondary factor
in a race as important as the U.S. presidency.
When I asked what his feelings are about the new
transition that took place in the political scenario of the U.S., Shalom Staub,
Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs at Dickinson College said, "I, like
everyone around me, was gripped by the power of this moment in history. We all
knew that we were watching something that undoubtedly will forever be
remembered as "history," and by a sense of the potential for
something good to emerge for the U.S. and the world. And, I'd have to say that
the moment and the man represent the very best of American principles and
ideals."
By Wara Karim
Date of publication: January 27, 2008
Web link: Click here
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