The News Minute | October 1, 2014 | 06:01 pm IST
By all indications, Prime Minister NarendraModi’s five-day visit to the United States of America (USA) has been a huge success not only in terms of opening new vistas for business, but also signaling to the world that India is a country to reckon with.
We, at The News Minute (TNM) think one industry is rarely credited for branding India abroad and that is Bollywood. Here’s our tribute to how India’s dream-makers, a global brand, may have seen it all.
Serious alert - if you don’t have a sense of humour or never laugh at yourself, this one’s not for you.
So much bonhomie in the vibes and smiles between all things American and Indian, our cup of joy brimmed and poured out. We knew the joint editorial between President Barack Obama and Modi would be a breeze, but this is how they got to it.
We could see their love for their nation in their eyes, in the garbas and the Bharatanatyam recitals, food, and fanfare. Of course they will invest in India, roll up their sleeves and smell some real earth. Like this.
And those who didn’t get the tickets to the mega events found solace in this, we think. In fact a lot of people were crying this week, especially in a certain state in South India.
The easier it looks, the longer it must have taken to prepare for it. There is no substitute for hard-work. If the synchronization was perfect and the timing just right, it’s because teams of Indians and Americans must have been at it for months singing this song at the end of each working day.
And here’s what some others did - some more than others.
As Modi was speaking at the UNGA, punditry peaked about the real message to Pakistan. We think it was a cake-walk, like this.
The breakfast meeting with the captains of industry was an important one, where India made a pitch for its Make in India campaign. It has been said before, come, make the money, and take the money. For the past five years, not much has arrived but lot has left. We think some trust has to be built and mere words are like passing clouds.
Terribly confused, we at TNM couldn’t make head or tail of what was going on. There was Jayalalithaa in jail, there was Modi in America and there was no money in our pockets as end of the month approached – there’s no bonus! Never the ones to give up, this is what we did.