It’s not hard to see why Indians would be interested in an election thousands of miles away. Many see Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential poll as a sign that America has finally transcended the question of race and changed the course of history.
Obama may have won by a landslide in the U.S. but going by the number of Indians rooting for him at New Delhi’s American Center on Wednesday, it seemed a useless exercise to gauge his support base in India.
I was hard-pressed to find a John McCain supporter among the many students and guests thronging the lawns of the Center as election results trickled in.
The McCain-Palin pavilion and a Republican elephant made of plastic balls stood forlorn as people posed for pictures with cutouts of Obama and Democrat running-mate Biden in a courtyard festooned with red, blue and white balloons.
When the umpteenth American citizen told me she had voted for Obama, I just shrugged my shoulders in despair. Did no one vote for McCain?
