Listening to Ramayana and Mahabharata is a special place for my childhood, India: Barack Obama

Washington, Ta. 17 November 2020, Tuesday

Former US President Barack Obama says he has a special respect for India. This is because in the early years of his childhood he lived in Indonesia and listened to the Hindu stories Ramayana and Mahabharata epics. This is what he says in his book A Promised Land.

In the book Obama has said that almost this was a huge part of India. Where one sixth of the world's population lives. There are about 2000 different ethnic groups and more than 700 languages ​​are spoken. Obama said he had never visited India before as President in 2010, but the country has always had a special place in his imagination.

"It's almost because a part of my childhood was spent in Indonesia listening to the Hindu stories Ramayana and the epics of the Mahabharata," Obama said. Because of my interest in Eastern religions as well as a group of friends from Pakistan and India in college who taught me to eat and make lentils and kheema and aroused my interest in Bollywood films.

In his book A Promised Land, Obama chronicles his journey to the end of his first term in the 2008 election campaign. He spoke in support of the US Alliance, but said that maintaining some independence was not the answer. A Promised Land Book is in two parts. The first part is available on bookstores around the world from Tuesday.

The main reason for my attraction to India is Mahatma Gandhi: Obama

Obama said Mahatma Gandhi was the reason for his attraction to India. Whose successful nonviolent movement against British rule became a ray of hope for the second most marginalized group. In his book, Obama, the 44th President of the United States, lamented that the great Indian Gandhi was unable to successfully focus on the caste system and prevent the division of the country on the basis of religion.

When the two came to India on the visit of the President of the United States, he said that the reason for my attraction towards India was Mahatma Gandhi. Along with Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, Gandhi has greatly influenced my ideology. As a teenager, I read their articles and realized that they were giving voice to my inner knowledge.

In his book, Obama wrote that Gandhi started a non-violent movement against the British rule. Which has lasted for more than 30 years, which has not only helped to conquer one empire and liberate much of the subcontinent. However there has been a wave of morality all over the world. The former president said that this gave a glimmer of hope to other despised, and marginalized groups, including black Americans.