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India and America clinked glasses in their new whirlwind friendship
at an elaborate and exotic state dinner at the White House last
night as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee profusely praised
Bill and Hillary Clinton—and also Christopher Columbus,
"who set sail for India but landed in America. I wonder where
we would be if he actually reached India."
The line got a big laugh from the nearly 700 assorted political,
business and entertainment glitterati lucky enough to snag one
of the coveted seats in what was by far the largest—and
possibly last—such event of the Clinton administration.
For this part, the president quipped in his pre-dinner toast that
Vajpayee, "when he's not writing Hindi poetry, actually likes
to read novels by John Grisham. I am actually related to the Grishams,
but all Grishams with money are distant relatives." Another
laugh. And thus the leaders of the world's largest democracies
bonded in that human way that can send a ray of hope into the
vast threat posed by the presence of nuclear weapons on the subcontinent
and the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
The threat was certainly on the minds of many guests last night,
underlying a general atmosphere of brotherly jollity in the tented
palace of gold, pomegranate and more gold on the South Lawn. "I
think the threat of nuclear annihilation has been played down
during this visit," said Indian author Ved Mehta, one of
the scores of prominent Indians and Indian Americans on the scene.
"India cannot fight mosquitoes—what will they do with
nuclear bombs?" said model and political-environmental activist
Christie Brinkley, dressed in drop-diamond earrings and body-clinging
beige dress. "It would be great if India and Pakistan could
find friendship like this and save us from nuclear destruction."
As she spoke before clicking cameras at the White House's east
guest entrance, her husband, architect Peter Cook, stood by solicitously,
his unmoving right hand firmly planted upon the exact epicenter
of her behind. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel said
he thought both India and Pakistan would accept disarmament "if
enough pressure is brought to bear on each. Nuclear proliferation
is the greatest threat of the century." New Age guru Deepak
Chopra agreed. "We have no choice," he said. "If
we go the way of the predator with nuclear weapons, we risk extinction."
Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) had a positive slant on the matter, expressed
with his usual gentle eloquence: "Gandhi gave us the way
of nonviolence," he said. "India should show us the
same way now."...
Ved Mehta takes
no responsibility for and makes no claim of accuracy for any information
on this Web site that is not directly written by him. |
