Tamil Nadu - Chennai

American First Ladies and India factor

— Photo: V. Ganesan

Interesting stuff: U.S. Consul-General in South India Andrew Simkin releasing the book ‘India in the Minds of American First Ladies’ in Chennai on Tuesday. The first copy was received by S. Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras.

CHENNAI: Tucked away in the Presidential libraries in the United States are some nuggets from history that led Utham Kumar Jamadhagni, a lecturer at the University of Madras, away from his dissertation on strategic defence studies to a different flavour of diplomacy.

Consider this incident that occurred during Franklin Roosevelt’s visit to India. The mood then was anti-American. Eleanor Roosevelt, who accompanied him, was to receive an honorary degree from the University of Allahabad. The students from the university hostel wrote an open letter to her, condemning America’s policies.

That’s when Eleanor Roosevelt did the unthinkable. She went to talk to the students.

Though she failed to win them over, she won their admiration and respect.

Mr. Jamadhagni collected such incidents and authored a book ‘India in the minds of American First Ladies.’

It was released by Andrew Simkin, U.S. Consul-General in South India, on Tuesday at a panel discussion on ‘Indo-US Relations: Retrospect and Prospects.’

This discussion was organised by the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, and the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, University of Madras, in association with the Exchange Visitors Alumni Association of South India.

Mr. Jamadhagni said the wives of the American Presidents played more than just a ceremonial role. Their personal interventions helped not only in improving cultural relationships but also in strengthening ties between countries.

The usual perception is that interests are permanent and friendships keep changing, said R. Sridhar, Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Madras Christian College, talking about the relationships between the two countries. He countered this perception, saying that in the case of India and the United States, interests kept changing but friendships were permanent.

The bilateral relationship had extended to include areas such as education, investments, trade, commerce, defence and health, said S. Ramachandran, Vice-Chancellor, University of Madras. He urged students to focus more on U.S.-related studies to enhance understanding of and future relationship with the country.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu