From Carterpuri to “Hellhole”: The Journey of a Relationship

When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, an anguished Indian poet invoked the “Ma Nishada sloka,” the first verse (Adi Kavya) of Sanskrit literature, uttered spontaneously by Sage Valmiki in grief and rage after a hunter killed one of two mating sarus cranes (Krauncha). It curses the hunter to never be at peace for killing an unsuspecting bird in love.

Such was the grief in an Indian heart thousands of miles away from where America’s President had been killed. Contrast this with the cartoons and memes that Donald Trump has been causing for calling India – indirectly through — a ‘hellhole’ and topping it, in the same breath, his friendship with “my good friend Modi.”

If this is the proverbial ‘hundredth’ like in the Mahabharata, of Lord Krishna killing cousin Shishupala after enduring 100 insults, the official Indian response to Trump’s name-calling, that it was “uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste” has been diplomatic.

Things were never so bad in Indian-American relations, even when they passed through the Cold War era and not-so-cold hostility at the height of the Bangladesh crisis. Through America’s cold disapproval of Jawaharlal Nehru being at the vanguard of the Non-Aligned Movement, which John Foster Dulles termed ‘immoral’. India and America were, as a scholar described, distant democracies. Amidst mistrust between the two governments, it was always possible to reach the people directly.

The pity is that now such insults come despite the two countries being strategic partners and having enormous trade ties. Not distant democracies anymore, 5.4 million Indians made America their home. At times, even they suffer in silence.

The talk of Trump visiting India during this term has been numbed by a year of wrangling over trade tariffs and his claim that he resolved the India-Pakistan conflict last year, else the two nuclear powers were at each other’s throats. One has lost count of how many times he has repeated this claim. India does not acknowledge it, but its arch-rival Pakistan did with great alacrity, also endorsing the Nobel Peace Prize.

Now, although there are strong reasons for Trump to switch his affections to Pakistan, especially to “my favorite field marshal” Munir, many in India think that Trump has taken India’s dual rejection to heart. They think his repeated references to “my friend Modi” are tongue-in-cheek and taste like rancid butter applied to burnt toast.

But Trump was certainly a ‘hit’ with Modi and the people of Gujarat when he visited during his first term. The way the two hugged and held hands, to the ovation from thousands at the jam-packed stadium, was the last spectacle before India went for a total lockdown to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Talking of past presidents, Kennedy, cut short in his tenure, never visited India. But his wife Jacqueline did, and it was a big event. Excluding Joe Biden, who had come to attend the G20 Summit, seven US presidents have officially visited India. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) was received with as much warmth, perhaps, as were the Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin in 1955, and China’s Premier Zhou Enlai, who made several key visits to India between 1954 and 1960 to foster “Hindi-Chini bhai bhai” relations.

Thousands lined up the New Delhi streets when ‘Eike’ visited. The story goes that S. Moolgaonkar, editor of the largest-selling newspaper, The Hindustan Times, had a hard time disciplining his reporters covering the route who went overboard. One of the reports quoted a flag-waving enthusiast calling Eike “Amrika ka Badshah” (Emperor of America). India then had its many maharajahs.

Richard Nixon (1969) probably did not impress or was not that impressed. Veteran diplomat Maharaj Krishna Rasgotra, calling on Prime Minister Indira Gandhi before being posted as the ambassador to the US, records in his memoirs that she had cautioned him about Nixon. Rasgotra writes that he did not encounter any such negativity. But then, 1971 changed it all, because Nixon and Henry Kissinger needed China and, hence, Pakistan. India’s pleas were ignored, even as Ted Kennedy visited the refugees from East Pakistan, and Yehudi Menuhin joined Pandit Ravi Shankar. That’s an old story.

Jimmy Carter’s 1978 visit carried its own charm. His mother, Lillian Carter, was a Peace Corps volunteer who served as a nurse in Vikhroli, a suburb in Mumbai, from 1966 to 1968, assisting in health clinics and caring for leprosy patients. “Miss Lilian” left India with a positive impression and prompted her son to visit the village of Daulatpur Nasirabad. It was later renamed Carterpuri.

Bill Clinton visited in 2000, an India that had both angered and awed the world community with its nuclear tests. Clinton began the process of turning the relations around. He charmed the Indian lawmakers whom he addressed in Parliament’s Central Hall. An Indian cameraman who had climbed a table to take a better shot fell. Before anyone else could, Clinton rushed to help. He inquired, “Are you hurt? The lensman remembers that gesture today.

George W. Bush came in 2006, post-9/11, post-Iraq. Leftist lawmakers joined the protest demonstration against him. One of them, fresh from the demo, attended the presidential banquet the same evening. He conveyed “India’s anger” at the US as they shook hands. Minutes later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Bush, “People of India love you.” The reason was clear. Unpopular elsewhere, Bush had wowed the Indian establishment with his offer of a civil nuclear pact, something unthinkable earlier.

After Kennedy and Clinton, Barack Obama – all Democrats, incidentally – remains the most popular American president to visit India, twice. In 2010, he addressed Parliament, and in 2015, he was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.

One of the most memorable events was the Obamas connecting with the young in Mumbai. Unlike any other visiting head of state, they met in the quadrangle of the historic Saint Xavier’s College. Michelle ‘introduced’ Barack, like she would any Chief Guest of the event. She then handed the mic over to Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who conducted a scintillating Question-Answer session. By Indian standards, or even American, this was the most informal, touching connection a visiting dignitary could make.

Points to ponder for Trump, should you consider visiting the “hellhole” again.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.