Mann ki Baat: On radio show, Obama-Modi discuss India inspirational

Controlling information was “ultimately no longer possible”, Obama said. “Information will flow inevitably, one way or the other, and we want to make sure we’re fostering healthy debate and good conversation between all people,” he said in response to a question on the approach of governments when global citizens were not limited by time or boundaries.

Mann ki Baat: Modi and Obama’s radio chat stick to common wavelength

Asked if Michelle and he would like to return to India to work on challenges related to health, Obama said that they “ looked forward to partnering with organisations, and the government and non-governmental organisations here in India, around broader public health issues including the issue of obesity”.

Both leaders were asked if they had ever imagined they would reach the positions that they had.

Obama said that when he thought about “what’s best in America and what’s best in India, the notion that a tea-seller or somebody who’s born to a single mother like me, could end up leading our countries, is an extraordinary example of the opportunities that exist within our countries”.

To the same question, Modi said he had “never imagined it” — and added that he had been telling everyone to dream of “doing something” rather than “becoming something”. “If you wish to dream, dream of doing something. When we do something, we get satisfaction, and also get inspiration to do something new,” the PM said.

Obama said his daughters were “fascinated by the culture, and the history of India”, and “deeply moved by India’s movement to Independence, and the role that Gandhi played, in not only the non-violent strategies here in India, but how those ended up influencing the non-violent civil rights movement in the United States”.

Asked about the American leader that had inspired him, Modi named former American President Benjamin Franklin, a “multi-dimensional personality”.

The PM began the broadcast by saying that people often wondered what “Barack” meant. “I was searching for the meaning… In the Swahili language, which is spoken in parts of Africa, Barack means ‘one who is blessed’. I believe along with a name, his family gave him a big gift,” Modi said.