Heat was on at Xavier’s meet, but cool Obama did not blink

As US president Barack Obama walked in to thunderous applause to interact with 300 students gathered at the famous quadrangle of St Xavier’s College, it was clear right from the beginning that he would not have an easy road ahead. In fact, it was something his wife Michelle Obama had urged the students to do. Give the president a tough time.

Dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, with his sleeves rolled up, Obama, in a Town Hall style interaction, was perhaps not aware that he would have to tackle some of the toughest questions of his life. But, to his credit, through it all the president did not blink. Both the Obamas were on a charm offensive, winning hearts upfront with their customary namaste.

“You must ask my husband tough questions. It brightens his day and keeps him on his toes,” urged the American first lady. This, of course, was followed by Obama, who said: “I normally don’t like speaking after Michelle because she is such a good speaker” and also “teases me a lot”.

The president said he has “come here not just to speak with you but to hear from you, hear your dreams, fears and plans”.

From jihad to the contentious issue of why the US has never called Pakistan a terrorist country, from whether his electoral debacle back home will affect Indo-US relations to how can people in general and the US in particular implement principles and values of Mahatma Gandhi, the students seemed well prepared and Obama never patronised and lived up to what he had said upfront:

“When I travel, we always try to set up meeting with the next generation. We want to find out what your fears and plans are.”

On jihad: Islam is great but distorted by extremists
Anam Ansari, a student of St Xavier’s College, who considers herself “lucky” for getting the opportunity to ask the first question to Obama, quizzed the president on his “opinion about jihad”.

Obama responded: “The phrase jihad has a lot of meaning and is subject to a lot of different interpretations. But I will say this first: that Islam is one of the world’s great religions and over a billion people practice it. But this great religion, in the hands of a few extremists, has been distorted.

"One of the challenges is how do we isolate those who have distorted notions of religious war? We should try to live up to universal principles and ideals that Gandhi so fought for. It’s a major challenge in India and around the world."

"Young people can make a huge impact in reaffirming that you can be a strong observer of your faith, without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else.”

Toughest time for US, India has had it better
While there have been a lot of speculation that his visit to Asia was perhaps a way to deal with his loss in the polls, Johan Fluery, student of St Andrews College, asked Obama how the poll results will impact young India.

“The US has gone through the toughest two years while India has weathered it better. Unemployment is very high in the US and people are frustrated. The wonderful thing about democracy is that it is the right and obligation of the people to express their unhappiness. Mine is to make sure that I stick to principles, beliefs and ideals that will move America forward,” he said.

He, however, ruled out any change in the fundamental belief of the US that India is a “critical partner” and stressed that the US wanted open markets for its goods in a healthy competition.

India keeps US on its toes
He said that the growing economic powers of India, China and Brazil have given US a “healthy competition” and will keep it “on its toes”. He further stressed that if US trades with Asia, it would want access to Asia’s market and that it would be a win-win situation.

“It can create jobs in US and India. We must negotiate this changing relationship. I don’t think it will be unfair to say that countries must open their markets to us,” said Obama.

Asserting that the India-US relationship will be “indispensable” in shaping the 21st century”, US president Barack Obama said that the partnership has “limitless potential” to improve lives.

Stating that it was an honour to stay at the Taj, Obama said there he met some of the 26/11 survivors of the attack and was struck by the resilience and determination of Indians.

Even as students climbed chairs to shake hands with him and click photographs with him, many were disappointed as they did not get the opportunity to question him. “But I shook hands with him. How many of us get to do that?” said Priya Adivarekar, student of Sophia College.