What a night it was. Yesterday America showed why it is America. After eight years of forcing everybody to have an opinion about America and many of them writing off the nation as a “has been”, once again Americans show why it is always the land of hope and opportunity. For two years I was in the thick of this election and had so many lively discussions with my friends and colleagues. I myself was a skeptic initially and opined that political parties do not jump ship from a party insider to a new comer unless they are very sure of the new comer’s victory. So it appeared for a long time as the primaries went on state after state with no clear winner. Then there were many who opined that America is not ready to vote for a colored person. Some questioned his patriotism, some questioned his association and some more spewed just pure venom. All through that the steady man that he was kept gaining the respect and worthiness inch by inch every day by just being positive and talking of hope. Yes, many thought and still think hope alone is not going to help and change is just a fancy word that is not meaningful in the real world. And that may well be true at the end of the next four year term but even then we at least for today can hope only for the better.
If at all, as a parting shot to the good friends of mine who suggest that all they have seen is words of hope and change and nothing else, I would like to point to just one thing. This campaign was the longest one that went on for two years and for that long a period this was the best run campaign ever. How did he do it? Just a simple mantra, People, Team, Organization. Even if he runs the administration the way he ran the campaign we are in good hands. Period.
Irrespective of the final legacy of the 44’Th president, this election has already given so much to this world and in particular to any parent who want to teach their kid with a real life example. Here are some that I learnt …
Every parent genuinely can look at their kid’s eye and say, yes in America you can be anything that you want to be as long as you work for it with dedication irrespective of the color, religion or affluence.
Education, Education, Education. I cannot say enough of that. Watching both the President and the first lady you can feel immediately that progress and achievement is possible only by dedicating the first 21 years of your life to the single purpose of education.
When the others call you weak, or question your passion or even insult you, you do not need to show your passion or your emotion to prove that you have the grit and the mettle. All you need is to show what you are by doing what you do best and positive. Let the others live in their own ignorance. The next time you want throw a punch think about this.
You can win some on your own but a good team will always win lot more. So don’t be a superstar trying to win it all by yourself. Instead, just do what you do best for the team and be a part of the team where others do what they do best for the team. When team wins you automatically win.
That is it for me for now…. More on some other lessons later.
