Up-close with the Obamas, and their dosti

Barack Obama may be the globe's most powerful political leader, but when it comes to residential accommodation, the US President’s official quarters is no match for the one occupied by the Indian President. Built in 1911 and once the residence of the erstwhile British Viceroy, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is a sprawling complex over an expanse of 330 acres of prime real estate in Delhi's golden mile.

The vast mansion, the official home of the Indian President, consists of four floors and has 340 rooms. Flowing fountains and magnificent gardens surround the building and in the estate are a cultural complex, a golf course, tennis courts and a polo ground.  Little wonder that British Viceroys were reluctant to free India from their colonial clutches as it would have meant giving up such palatial comforts.

In contrast, the White House, which Obama resides in, is spread over only 18 acres. Built in 1792, the White House has two floors with a total of 132 rooms, a little more than a third of what the Rashtrapati Bhavan has. For the size conscious, the House has a floor space of 55,000 square feet as compared to the Bhavan, which has 2,00,000 square feet. Some other interesting facts: The Bhavan was built with 700 million bricks and 3 million cubic feet of stone. As for the White House, it takes 1,100 litres of white paint to cover just its exterior.

When President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were ushered into the North Drawing Room to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, they were taken for a quick tour of the mansion, including his study. Neither of them made any wisecracks about the size of the house as compared to theirs back home. This though was not the first time that the Obamas were entering Rashtrapati Bhavan. On Obama's first state visit in 2010, the then President Pratibha Patil also hosted a banquet for him at the Bhavan.

Yet, on both occasions — in 2010 and last week — the State Dining Hall, where the President traditionally holds banquets for visiting heads of state, was found to be inadequate. As the Hall can seat 104, in 2010, the then President  decided to hold the banquet in the expansive Mughal Gardens where normally 'At Home' events are held. I recall it was a tented affair and though all of us were introduced to President Obama and his wife, it was rather impersonal.

On the Obamas' second visit, the guest list was even longer — some 200. So President Mukherjee decided to hold it in the brand new ceremonial hall adjoining the cultural complex that had been inaugurated in December last. The size of two basketball courts, the hall doesn't have the grandeur of the State Dining Hall but was large enough for all of us invited to be seated comfortably.

It was an occasion to observe the Obamas up-close. Much like emperors of yore, bugles announced the arrival of the Indian President. After the respective national anthems were played, the guests were invited by turn to meet the President and his wife. Rashtrapati Bhavan had suggested that Obamas meet only 30 of the invitees but apparently the President insisted on being introduced to each of the guests. That saw the who's who of India's political, diplomatic, business and social circles standing in a long queue waiting their turn.

America's First Couple have a studied informality about them that is both charming and disarming. Despite shaking hands with so many guests, President Obama had a knack of making each of us feel special. When it was my turn, he asked whether I was satisfied by the outcome of his visit. I told him that it was a question that I had wanted to ask and he laughed and answered, "Yes I am." As I walked past, I noticed how tall both of them looked. I checked later and found that while Obama stood at 6' 1', Michelle was around 5' 11".

Dinner was a somewhat hurried affair with the schedule running late. The band struck up a combination of English and Hindi tunes, including the theme song of Obama's election campaign "Yes We Can" apart from Michael Jackson's 'We are the World' and Stevie Wonder's 'Part Time Lover'. Unlike the formal speech delivered by Mukherjee, when Obama spoke, he had all of us in splits with his witty comments. He joked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's penchant for flamboyant kurtas, saying, "Move aside Michelle, we have a new fashion icon."

That the two leaders had developed a personal rapport was obvious. Both had much to be satisfied about that night. For at the bilateral meetings that morning, the two had made large strides in reinvigorating the relationship between the two countries, including finding a way out of the deadlock over the nuclear deal. Long live the 'dosti', as Obama termed it.

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