Clinton begins homework on India

WASHINGTON, MARCH 3: If any more proof was needed that President Bill Clinton is all keyed up and ready to visit India, he offered it in ...

WASHINGTON, MARCH 3: If any more proof was needed that President Bill Clinton is all keyed up and ready to visit India, he offered it in an unexpected manner on Monday while on a holiday at a skiing resort in Utah. The President walked into a book shop called Dolly8217;s Books, and after a spot of browsing, came away with four books. Two of them were on the subcontinent 8212; Stanley Wolpert8217;s India, and Octavio Paz8217;s In Light of India. The other two books were John Grisham8217;s The Testament and Raymond Chandler8217;s Playback, both thrillers.

According to pool reports from journalists accompanying the President, the chief executive actually had the mortification of having his credit card rejected at the cash counter after he ran up a tab of 62.66. His American Express card had expired. He then paid in cash.

Expectedly, his very public display and his choice of books set off a minor flutter among the usual South Asian experts. At least one expert felt the public showcasing of hisreading choice was a definite signal that he badly wanted to go to the region. 8220;He could just as well ordered the books or called in for it,8221; this expert said. But the interpretation appeared far-fetched because Clinton often shops publicly in Washington DC and elsewhere especially when on vacation, and sometimes walks the main streets glad-handing the public. And this is not the first time his reading choice has been a matter of public exhibition. It is known that he is a voracious reader of history with lot of pulp fiction thrown in for light reading.

According to well-placed US officials, Clinton8217;s interest in the Indian sub-continent goes back to his Oxford days when he read about colonial British history. The appeal was reignited after First Lady Hillary Clinton8217;s trip to the region with their daughter Chelsea in 1995. Since then, he is believed to have read several books on India and has expressed his keenness to go there innumerable times. A trip was scheduled for the Golden Jubilee of India8217;sindependence in 1997 but was scuppered by the fall of governments and elections in India. Plans for a 1998 trip were blown up by the nuclear tests.

In an interview last January, Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott said the President 8220;really wants to go to the region.8221; Revealing that the President was keen on normalising relations even after the nuclear tests, Talbott said Clinton raised the subject of going to India every time they met to discuss the region. Although the White House has not formally rescheduled his trip, officials privately say the Presidential visit could happen later this year depending on when India and Pakistan sign the nuclear test ban treaty. The visit would also depend on the domestic political situation in India and Pakistan. Since the time the visit to the region was first planned, it transpires that Bangladesh has also become a part of the itinerary. The President and the First Lady are both great fans of the microcredit pioneer Mohammed Yunus and his Grameena Bank. The discoveryof large gas reserves in Bangladesh and its impressive coming of age in recent times has recast what was once a basket case in a strategic mould.

But for now though 8212; with India and Pakistan still coy about signing the CTBT and the onset of summer in the region 8212; the President may have to be satisfied with reading about India.

Wolpert8217;s India is generally considered a very lightweight version of Indian history. Paz8217;s In Light of India is a brilliant and insightful offering from a litterateur rather than a historian. A collection of eleven essays, the book is a tapestry of India8217;s rich culture, art and religion. Paz, a Nobel laureate, was Mexico8217;s ambassador to India from 1962 to 1968 and died last year.