Descend into the Maelstrom

During the early stages of the presidential campaign in 2007, my older and wiser friend Richard told me that the reason I was so enamored of Barack Obama was my emotional connection to him.  I argued back that my support was related strictly to his policies. 

Several years later I was able to admit to Richard, and more importantly myself, that he was right in a sense.  Obama and I do have a number of things in common which have endeared me to him- some of which may be considered to be throwaway coincidences on their own, but as an aggregate I find them to be interesting.  Here are some of them that I can think of.  It’s not as uncanny as the Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences but it’s all true.

Our early lives have some interesting parallels.  While growing up, Obama was often an outsider or even what I call “double outsider”- where he was in the minority or even super-minority.  Like my parents, Obama’s mother loved to travel from country to country and learn about new cultures.

- Obama was among the few black kids in Hawaii with parentage from another country- Kenya in his case, India in mine.  During my childhood in Indiana I was among the small handful of Indians in my town.

- Obama spent four years from age 6-10 in the world’s largest Muslim nation, Indonesia.  I spent four years from age 7-11 in the world’s original Muslim nation- Saudi Arabia.  So he was a Kenyan-American in Indonesia, and I was an Indian-American in Saudi Arabia- this is what I mean by double outsider.  Like he is, I’m highly thankful for this chance to understand Islamic life from an outside perspective, to play or go to school with the local kids and understand how much we actually had in common.

- Obama has made Illinois his home.  I lived in Illinois briefly during middle school (okay, tenuous).  However we both have that midwestern accent, and I like to think, charm.

- In high school, Obama worked at a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store for pocket money.  I also scooped ice cream at a Baskin-Robbins for pocket money during high school.  My shop had 36 flavors technically, not 31.  I ate way too many sundaes during this period, to the point where I smelled like ice cream from my pores.

-  Obama went to an East Coast college and majored in International Relations, with a focus on nuclear weapons proliferation which he wrote his thesis on.  I went to an East Coast college and majored in International Relations, writing my thesis on nuclear weapons proliferation.  Neither of us were exactly honor students either.

- Obama had a Pakistani roommate in college.  I had a Pakistani roommate in college too.  Obama went on a trip to Pakistan with his buddy; I’d love to visit mine there one day soon. 

-  Obama spent the early years of his young adulthood in New York City.  I have spent my 20’s in New York City.  This amazing experience no doubt shapes a person’s worldview as much as anything else.

- I’ve uh, been to Kenya, and uh, so has Obama to visit his relatives (very tenuous, I know).

- Obama has been known to carry a Hanuman trinket, or a small idol of the Hindu monkey God which has excited Hindus the world over and was considered to give him a lot of power by many Indians.  I always have different forms of Hanuman on me: pictures in my wallet, or a small idol on my chain.  I don’t make too much of this, but most Indians who know about this fact do.

- We have just about the same skin complexion.   Inconsequential, yet interesting when you consider he is the first one of our skin color to get into the White House.

- Although Obama is a politician and dedicated his adult life to public service, including many years at the local level, he made his big bucks as a writer.  His books made him a millionaire.  I’ve been in public service all of my adult life at the local level, and I do write some stuff (at least you’re reading this!) and am also hoping to publish professionally.  Can’t speak to the big bucks just yet.

- Obama ended up marrying someone from his background: a pretty African American named Michelle, though there was no indication this was a done deal from his earlier life around people of mostly different backgrounds.  In June I am marrying a pretty Indian girl, after many years of never being sure I’d do this either.  Both spouses seem inclined to put their mate in their place.

-  Obama’s positions on foreign policy are nearly mirror-images of mine; if I were much more intelligent and well-read, I would say some of the same things he says.  This, most of all, has shaped my admiration for this man.  He was against the Iraq invasion, he wants to shut down Guantanamo, he wants to draw down our nuclear arsenal, he believes America should listen more, and the list goes on.  I always remember what David Letterman said after interviewing Obama last year: “What an intelligent guy.  He could do what I do in a heartbeat; but I could never do what he does.”

So go ahead, make fun of my “BrOmance” if you will; just don’t be jealous that you can’t say that you have as much in common with our president as I do.  I’ll freely admit that someone with this background being in the White House excites me, perhaps to a worrying degree.  And with the hiring of actor Kal Penn yesterday to the White House, there is a pretty cool Indian-American in Obama’s circle.  Can’t pretend that I’m not excited to hear that.