Trumped

Never has a U.S. presidential election garnered so much interest and so much hope for civility and reason to prevail. In the end, what we feared or least expected triumphed. Donald Trump had triggered so much of that ugh feeling that all I could say when I heard about his unexpected victory was Ugh.  Or maybe we failed to see the writing on the wall. We preferred to believe what the media said - that Hillary will make it even if it was a close race. As a columnist said, the people deserve the president they elect. So if the majority of Americans want the change that he is hoped to bring, why should we in India or the Gulf pull our hair out? Let us try to think it was a bad dream - but a nightmare that will last another 4  years.
A relative in the U.S. told me that he liked Hillary as a person but he didnt want her to be President because she was Bill's right hand during his presidency and secondly, because she is a WOMAN! Maybe the world's biggest superpower cant trust the country with a woman. Asians seem to be way ahead in accepting women leaders at the helm. We in India have had brave women leaders from ancient times, so a Jhansi Rani or Kannagi is no different from Indira Gandhi or Mayawati.
My dear relative also seemed irritated by the presence of too many immigrants. He forgets that he is an immigrant himself!
If Obama's victory was hailed by the Indian media as the sublime fulfillment of all things wise and wonderful - the first Africa-American President and the sheer poetry of his speech - the rise of Trump has been greeted with some alarm.
The kids for the first time took an interest in the US elections and hoped Hillary would win. Ash liked Trump because he said he would keep out some immigrants. But can he?