The Disappointment of Obama

David Remnick in discussion with Samanth Subramanian

The first lecture that I attended at the Jaipur Literature Fest was a discussion with David Remnick on Barack Obama’s Presidency. What interested me about this topic when I spotted it on the schedule of the JLF was that it was something that I had been hearing about for a while. It seemed that every week, whenever I did watch the news, there was someone on TV talking about how Obama was not doing what he was expected and what he should have done.

Personally, I felt similar, the enthusiasm that Obama had in his election was shared by people across the world. Now, it could have been because of the fact that George Bush was finally going out of the White House but I like to believe that “Yes We Can’ really made the world have a bit of a moral boost. In discussions that I overheard at home, between my relatives, people would mention how he promised to close Guantanamo Bay, how he promised to end the war in Iraq among other things. He got everyone up and enthusiastic looking forward to a complete u-turn.

This is when one starts looking at the other side of things, Obama did end the war in Iraq, but redeployed troops in Afghanistan, approved of a surgical strike to kill Osama in another nation without permission, and then there is the financial bailout.

This is where I become more accepting of the theory that Obama simply got a really bad presidency.

David Remnick is the editor of The New Yorker, an American culture magazine, and the author of several historical books most notably, ‘Lenin’s Tomb’ and ‘The Bridge’. David Remnick had a deep insight into the Obama campaign as he interview members that work very closely with the now President of the United States.

Remnick had a natural flair and charisma to him which instantly allowed every member of the audience to connect to him and every word that he uttered. Remnick was guided by Samanth Subramanian who in actuality, remained pretty quiet for most of the session as Remnick just rolled with the topics at hand.

As the talk began, Remnick was asked about how he came to know about Barack who, as a presidential candidate came out of the perceivable nowhere. Remnick discussed how the first time he’d heard of Barack Obama was in 2004 during a Democratic Party Convention in Boston. He recalled how the crowd

was actually enthusiastic during the speech and were engrossed with the words that Obama spoke. As Remnick said, “He knows how to give a speech”.

It was after this that the value of Remnick’s research and insight as a journalist came out as the topic of discussion dove into why it was a black candidate that won the elections, not a woman. As Remnick points out, it was as a result of the ‘Racial Struggle’, and how the idea of a Black president was introduced with Jesse James who actually managed to win in the state of Alabama, a ‘white dominated’ state.

Remnick compared the two Democratic Candidates as having very similar policies and near identical stances on certain issues which meant that the discriminatory factors had to be included in the decision. America had to decide whether it wanted a Black President or a Female President.

As the conversation between the two-man panel ended, Samanth asked David Remnick about his opinion on the disappointment of Obama. Remnick hesitated, and clarified, that as a journalist, his job was to criticise and in that respect, Obama hadn’t done even a quarter of the things he had promised. However, on the other hand, compared to other presidents, Obama stood in a much better standing. Remnick reasoned this as the result of the time that Obama was included into office: “I can’t even count the number of crisis’s”

I can’t say I disagree with Remnick, Obama was given such high expectations during an abysmal period that it’s hard to not feel disappointed with him, but on the flipside, when you see the problems that he’s had to deal with in 4 years, he hasn’t done that bad a job.

David Remnick provided one of the most interesting insights into the current US Presidents Campaign and political mindset. From looking at his influences, his aspirations and how the man went against the odds I have to admit that this was one of my favourite sessions at the Jaipur Literary Festival


Article and Photos by Virpratap Vikram Singh

Amber Fort – The Path Less Travelled By

The Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts visit to Rajasthan for the Jaipur Literature Festival wouldn’t have been complete without a visit to one of the forts that lie around the city centre.

When we all finally rose on the 19^th morning, we loaded into two buses and headed off into Jaipur with our destination being the ever popular Amber Fort. I had gone to the fort before, nearly 6 years earlier, but I still recognized the landmarks as we left Jaipur and up the rocky pass that we moved through. This also meant that I knew what we were expecting when we got there.

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The last time I had come to Amber Fort, my school had treated us to elephant rides to scale the mountain that Amber Fort rested upon, going up by elephant was is an incredible experience as you cringe at the smell emitted by the dung-encrusted elephants but can’t help but keep your mouth open as you move from the small town, up the stone-paved path that takes you higher with each lurch of the mighty pachyderm.

This time, my college had organised for a convoy of Jeeps, these Jeeps would take a maximum of 8 students up the side routes to the 'back door' of the fort. So when we reached the bus-bay to move from the buses to the jeeps, I immediately requested if I could walk up to the fort, since I’d been up before, I knew the route up so there wouldn’t be any chance of me getting lost...

After the flat response of "NO", we took some more photos at the dried up lake before, me and my friend Viren circumvented the chain of command, by asking another professor who was much more agreeable and gave us permission to walk up to the fort. And here is where this trip became well and truly spectacular.

From the bus bay, there was a solitary, surprisingly well paved road that led to the wall of the fort. As we walked, I was completely engulfed by the majesty of the fort, something that my younger self, could appreciate, but never truly grasp. Coming back, it was like a circle getting completed. I could now understand the scale of its construction, and how tactically, it was beautifully placed. The fort was on a 

spur of a mountain so that it faced the valley like a peninsula, it could face any army that would approach it from any side. The lake that once must have been filled, would have provided the fort with enough sustenance to ensure that even in the event of a siege they would be in a position to draw water.

Viren and I kept walking and eventually came across a bridge and our excitement doubled; Not only were we coming by a largely unorthodox method, but we were going to enter by a bridge! We started walking across and suddenly out of one of the windows; a man popped his head out and told us that we couldn't enter from here! I had a moment of panic; we would get into so much trouble if we had to get one of the Jeeps come back and get us.

As I had my moment of panic, the man explained that while that door was closed, there was another route in. He indicated below us, to the dried up riverbed. I remember that right then both of us just said something along the lines of "Wow, this is awesome". As we climbed down to the riverbed, we could not stop talking about how this was the way one was to experience the true majesty of a fort.

The walk into the fort was something, ethereal. From the shade cast by the wall, we came up the dried channel which must have allowed fleets of fishing boats to travel through or perhaps, where a Raja would take his Queen out onto the lake. 

As we calmed down we noticed the fort above us and the path that the lights from the sound and light show that marked a path towards the main entrance which lay above a small garden which tourists flocked to and a small lake where cranes flocked to

We began climbing and found some vendors selling Pagri's, we probably should have haggled a bit, but I was just so happy and full of enthusiasm at the fact that we had taken this different approach and not chosen to go up by Jeep that we simply smiled and paid. Our mood was very evident as we conversed with Hawkers about the fort and the people that visited it with a clear sense of enthusiasm.

We hung around for a bit at the crossroads of the walking path and the elephant’s path. Ecstatic tourists smiled as they snapped photos from the top of the mighty beasts and simultaneously, tried to shoo away hawkers who, even though their client were elevated a good meter above them, attempted to sell them some puppets or elephant carvings – A true testament to the determination of an Indian Hawker.

As we carried on, we came across a simple man, sitting with a small, covered, basket and a few pipes. Instantly, we knew that he was a snake charmer and we had to do this! We were tourists today, not Indians.

I sat and the man took out a small flute and passed it to me, trying to make me feel more part of the experience I figured. He took off the lid and began to play the flute, instantly, the pair of black snakes began to unravel from one another and rise. I tried to play the flute, but I simply lacked the lung power. So I began observing the snakes, they seemed to move based on the direction of noise; this led me to realise that they had been blinded. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they had also been defanged. I guess the business norms were simple; the snakes can’t have any ability to hurt the clients.

We noticed the time and we sprinted up the final staircase, finally making it to the gigantic gate. As we squeezed between two elephants that occupied both lanes of the entrance, I couldn't help but feel like I had gotten a journey up the fort that no one else would have ever experienced. It was one spectacular walk up and as we walked towards the rest of our group, we both knew that we'd get a scolding, but the look on the batches face as Viren and I walked towards them; Pagri's on our heads, a unique memory and an enormous smile pasted on (at least) my face I knew that it was worth it! 

Article and Photos by Virpratap Vikram Singh