interview2019 
Source: Vanity Fair
Former US President Barack Obama in his book ‘A Promised Land’ says that he has a special place for India in his mind. This is because he has heard the epics of Hindu stories Ramayana and Mahabharata while living in Indonesia in the early years of childhood.
“Maybe India is huge in size. As one-sixth of the world’s population lives there and an estimated two thousand different traditional groups and more than seven hundred languages are also spoken in India.”
The Former US President says that he had never visited India before as a President in 2010, but this country always holds a special place in his imagination.
“Maybe it was because I spent a part of my childhood listening to the epic of Hindu stories Ramayana and Mahabharata in Indonesia, or because of my interest in Eastern religions or a group of Pakistani and Indian college friends, who taught me to cook dal and mince as well as aroused my interest in Bollywood films,” informed Obama.
In his book ‘A Promised Land’, Obama has written an account of the journey from the 2008 election campaign to the end of his first term. It refers to the incident in Abbottabad, Pakistan in which al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed.
‘A Promised Land’ has two parts. The first part is available at bookstores around the world from Tuesday.
Besides, the Former US President also pointed out that his love towards Mahatma Gandhi (father of the Nation) has also made him fall for the country and he is highly inspired by the Gandhi’s successful non-violent movement against British rule in 1915, which lasted more than 30 years, which not only helped in overcoming an empire and liberating most of the subcontinent, but the whole There was also a wave of morality in the world. The former president said, “This gave hope to other despised, marginalized groups, including black Americans.”
Further, Obama, the 44th President of the United States, however regretted in his book that Gandhi was unable to successfully focus on the caste system or prevent the division of the country on the basis of religion.
Obama, who came to India twice as the President of the United States of America, said, ‘The biggest reason for my fascination for India is Mahatma Gandhi. Along with (Abraham) Lincoln, (Martin Luther) King and (Nelson) Mandela, Gandhi greatly influenced my thinking. As a youth, I read his articles and found that he is giving voice to my innate knowledge. ‘
By: InterviewTimes
Image Source: Google
