For a country that was descending into the depths of despair, even simple words like ‘Yes We Can!’ were suffused with the hope and expectation of change. Of course, the most difficult journey for a political leader to traverse is that between expectation and achievement. In the months ahead, America and the rest of the world will be closely watching Obama’s journey. What content will he put into his promise of change? The election of the first African American to the country’s highest office has no doubt already marked a big transformation in the US. But the significance of Obama is far greater than the colour of his skin. It will lie in his policies and performance. Let us wait and watch.

What struck me about the coverage of the Obama Phenomenon in the Indian media was a certain tendency of self-deprecation. Some people bemoaned that India does not have a transformational leader like Obama. They were full of praise for America. There is nothing wrong with praising America where praise is due. But in doing so, they also berated India, saying how Indian society is stagnant and resistant to change. They seem to find nothing good in Indian society, nothing reformative in our history, and nothing progressive in our national values.

Let us get some basic facts clear, facts that show how slow and halting America’s own march to progress. When Obama was born in 1961, the marriage between his Black Kenyan father and White American mother was illegal in as many as 19 out of 50 states in the US. The Constitution of India, on the other hand, enshrined, in 1950 itself, equality as one of the foundational principles of our newly independent nation—equality of rights and freedoms of every Indian, cutting across their racial, religious or caste identities. Dr B.R. Ambedkar belonged to a caste that was previously treated as “untouchable”. But his brilliance ensured no prejudice came in the way of his becoming the principal architect of the Indian Constitution. Could this have been possible in the United States?

When Obama was growing up, segregation between Whites and Blacks in public places was still an ugly reality in America. In many states, Blacks stood at the back in buses. They drank at separate water fountains reserved for ‘Coloureds’. At restaurants they couldn’t sit on the same tables as the Whites.

One could say that untouchability as a social practice prevailed in India even after the adoption of the Republican Constitution. But here is the difference. Unlike racial segregation in the US, untouchability in Free India never had official sanction. Its practice in public places stopped almost shortly after Independence. Undoubtedly, we still have a long way to go in ensuring full social justice and dignity to those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Nevertheless, we can say in all modesty that in philosophical and spiritual terms, India’s campaign against untouchability and other injustices has been far weightier than America’s campaign against slavery and racial discrimination. This is something, which Martin Luther King Jr., who was influenced by the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, and other great American votaries of civil rights, have acknowledged.

As far as a person of half-Muslim parentage becoming President of the United States is concerned, let us remember that India has so far elected three Muslims to its highest constitutional office. Moreover, when Dr Zakir Hussain became the first Muslim President of our country in 1967, just two decades after Pakistan was carved out of undivided India, it was hardly considered as extraordinary as Barack Hussein Obama’s election is being seen today. This is because of the essentially inclusive nature of Indian culture and India’s nationhood.

In the 61 years of Free India, our country has also had a Dalit President and several Dalit chief ministers. Babu Jagjivan Ram, the greatest Dalit leader after Ambedkar, came close to becoming Prime Minister in the late 1970s. India’s record of political empowerment of the diverse sections of our society has been far superior to that of America.

My point is this: We have no doubt a lot to learn from America. For example, the way it promotes research and innovation. The way it has created the world’s best universities. And the way it rewards merit. But we should also acknowledge that America is still on the learning curve as far as many other higher values of human life are concerned. Obama’s victory gives hope that it will learn faster than before. America’s greatest resource, like India’s, is its diversity. Indeed, American society is diversifying so rapidly that whites will no longer constitute a majority in the US population by the year 2042. Immigrants from almost every country in the world are now an integral part of the American melting pot. Which means that the US can, if it wants to, learn and absorb the best things from every country and every culture in the world. Therein lies the real hope for America, and for the rest of the world.

Write to: sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com