Obama seeks light and knowledge from Diwali

WASHINGTON: In an expansive gesture to Indians worldwide as much as to showcase his – and America’s — multi-cultural affections, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday lit a ceremonial Diwali lamp at the White House to ”symbolize victory of light over darkness.”  ( Watch Video )

Although it was the Bush White House that began celebrating Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, in 2003, Obama became the first President to personally grace the ceremony — a brief affair that began with a rather incongruous performance by the well-regarded Hindi a-capella group Penn Masala, and ended with a Sanskrit invocation by a priest from the local Siva-Vishnu temple.

”This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting Diyas, or lamps, which symbolize the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance,” Obama said on the occasion, adding, ”And while this is a time of rejoicing, it’s also a time for reflection, when we remember those who are less fortunate and renew our commitment to reach out to those in need.”

The Diwali ceremony shared the platform with another event where Obama signed an executive order re-establishing the President’s advisory committee and White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. By hosting both events together, the U.S President, who is clearly comfortable being a composite of American, Asia-Pacific, and African cultures, brought together an unusual coalition in the White House East Room of Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders. All three groups have much in common as successful minorities but seldom work together.

The half-hour East Room celebration was attended by a mixed crowd of hyphenated Asians, Americans, and Indians. India’s Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Ambassador Meera Shankar dropped by, and several Indian-Americans in administrative positions in Washington attended.

The White House kept it light and simple. A box of Indian mithai (sweets) was placed on some 150 chairs that filled the East Room but there was no food fest or song and dance.

After his remarks, much of which was devoted to the Asian-American initiative, there was a single lamp that Obama lit from a candle. The Siva-Vishnu temple priest, dressed in ceremonial togs with an enormous three-forked tilak on his forehead, kept his invocation short — chanting ”Asatoma Sadgamaya” (Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to liberation) from the Upanishads.

Obama, having lit the White House diya (a word he handled with aplomb) and wished everyone a ”Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak,” listened intently as the priest ended with ”Om Shanti Shanti.” He returned the priest’s Namaste and then shook his hands before striding out to attend to the business of war.

”Thank you Mr President for being the first president to come to the Diwali ceremony,” a gadabout journalist called out to Obama. ”Yes, how about that,’’ the President shot back.

The President spent much of the morning with his ”war council” (formally, the national security team) in the White House Situation room assessing US strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Courtsey: The Times of India, You Tube.