There are moments in life when you know exactly where you were when that incident occured. Last night was one such moment. I was at home, slouched on the couch, had just had dinner [daal, chawal, gobi, dahi..] and was sleepy. I probably dozed off couple of times listening to the political pundits.

People at CNN were visibly excited and giddy with confidence; on the other hand Fox News people looked upset and solemn. Kavi had no interest whatsoever with the drama taking place except when the projections were being made. She was happy to be watching Sa re ga ma fame Asma and the reruns for the umpteenth time. You have to give it to her though, she sure is funny with her ‘mera baap’ lines.

As the night moved along, there were pictures of people ready to celebrate the Obama victory in major towns in the country. Presumably the victory rally at Obama home town Chicago had throngs of people filing in, some 250 thousand people. Everyone was on top of their voices and the atmosphere looked electric. I thought I could have gone to Times Square where a similar but smaller crowd had gathered to watch the poll results. I think we all knew what the results were going to be with initial poll data since last few weeks. But it isn’t until it is. [Hmm did that come out right!!!!] Anyway, at about 11 CNN made the projections that Obama was the next elect President of United States. I checked right winged Fox News and they had the same projections.

People were ecstatic all across the country. A lot of people were in tears and visibly shaken. It was an emotional moment, especially for a lot of African American people that have seen the civil right days and much of the younger crowd wished their parents/grand parents had lived to see this day. People of America had given their verdict and history was made. A Black man was to be the 44th President of America.

John McCain spoke very graciously and conceded the elections. By now even Kavi was glued to the tube and jumping and shouting, obama, obama... We waited for Obama’s speech and it was worth the wait. As eloquent he can be, Obama was humble and pressing. The occasion was very moving but it felt great. And, yes it was one of those moments that you will probably never forget….. Indeed a night to remember..

 Image source: Time Magazine