An eclectic audience, star turns and a circus made for television

Mulani was born in Danbury to parents who had migrated from Mumbai, and he grew up in the city of Chicago where Obama had found his purpose. Mulani persuaded all his friends to read the book. He told me, “Barack Obama doubled our debate team.” Later, Mulani went to Washington D C to compete in debates, and, because Illinois Senators have a tradition of having breakfast on Thursdays with their constituents, he visited the young Senator several times.

In the fall, Mulani is going to join Harvard and work on a degree in applied mathematics. When I asked him to tell me about his experience here in Denver, Mulani noted how much more diverse the attendance at the event was. He said, “Whether the country is ready for Barack or not, this convention is showing how rapidly this country is changing. This country has had this feel for a long time, but this is the first time that a convention is showing this reality.”

The 2008 Democratic convention has the largest number of black delegates in history, as well as Asian Americans, and also gays and lesbians. Mulani didn’t say this to me, but wouldn’t it also be a first of a sort that he is here, barely out of high school, reporting on the activism of South Asians?

While I have been writing these lines, dear reader, on the stage to my left, there had been a string of command performances by John Kerry, a very smooth and unambiguous Bill Clinton, and, finally, Joe Biden. Young Mulani’s senior colleague from sepiamutiny.com, Abhi Tripathi, is also attending the convention. On the day following Obama’s choice of his vice-presidential running mate, Tripathi had pointed out that Biden’s expertise on Pakistan was a great strength. For years, Biden has been arguing that Pakistan, and not Iraq, is the seat of terror. The choice of this man meant that one could hope for a better-informed war against terrorism.

There was a surprise appearance, at the evening’s end, by Obama. Tomorrow, he delivers his acceptance speech. While talking to young Mulani, I asked if he had any tips for Obama. Mulani was confident about tomorrow but it was the future he was a bit worried about. He said, “Obama is an excellent speaker, but as a debater he needs to provide a few more catchy sound bites.”

(Journalist, author and academic Amitava Kumar is professor of English at Vassar College, New York)

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