7
News India Times
July 17, 2015
– that’s all you need to know
Cover Story
ByMehul Bhagat
t is easy to vanish in this
city. When buildings are
enshrined in memory of
heroes and dedicated to
heroism, it is easy to feel
small in the face of a larger
American story.
This week I felt this was par-
ticularly true. On TV, media pun-
dits discussed President Obama’s
struggles and then his wins on
trade and marriage equality and
healthcare. Some analysts said
the wins were for millions of
everyday Americans and that the
recent successes were indicators
of progress that rose above poli-
tics.
This past Monday, ourWLP
class sat down with Kap Sharma
and Persis Khambatta, both
experts in U.S.-India relations, to
hear how they made it in this
city, and how they thought about
the impact D.C. made on people
everywhere.
Kap told us that we needed to
be critical, to ask questions that
challenged others people’s views.
He explained what moved him
to switch political parties. He
discussed discrimination against
South Asian Americans. He and
Persis both emphasized the
necessity of developing mean-
ingful relationships and valuing
others.
Ajit Pai, a Commissioner at
the FCC, answered our questions
on Tuesday, addressing high-
profile issues like Net Neutrality
and privacy. He spoke nostalgi-
cally about small campaigns that
he held close to his chest—like
his push to revitalize the AM dial
for millions of Americans.
For Ajit, dwindling access to
AM radio was an issue he could
relate to personally. As a child he
had traveled roads in Kansas lis-
tening to AM stations. For him, it
was a part of growing up. AM
was the window that took him
away and back home again.
D.C. is a city that stands both
in memoriam and in honor: in
memory of those passed and in
honor of the past. It is appropri-
ate then, that I learned of James
Salter’s death here.
He was a writer I have long
admired. I never met him, but
still I feel deeply about our
encounters. Our first was a slim
collection of stories entitled
“Last Night.” He conveyed some-
how, in stripped-down prose, the
transience of life, the loneliness
of suffering.
He passed away the way he
wrote: quietly, with little notice.
But not all things pass this way.
Last night theWhite House
was lit with color. Outside its
gates, I met a gay couple cele-
brating the Supreme Court’s rul-
ing on marriage equality. We
talked briefly--about their day,
their plans for the weekend.
Both of them, they said, were liv-
ing with AIDS. Living—not
dying. But still, for them, the
landmark decision was bitter-
sweet.
I didn’t know what to say in
response. Perhaps it was because
I have always been cautious
about these encounters – to
know someone and have them
slip away without a chance to
say good-bye.
In our nation’s capital, crowds
sweep the bases of monuments
in the face of monumental deci-
sions. Today, gay marriage is
legal across the country.
Obamacare is here to stay. Just
yesterday, President Obama
delivered a eulogy for Revered
Pinckney in Charleston: to move
us and to help us move on.
At the Lincoln Memorial we
read last night, words written
150 years ago. Lincoln’s words,
merciful words—”with malice
toward none; charity for all.” I
can’t put into words, what it
means to be here, witness to his-
tory. I only know that language
cannot document what we were
privy to last night– a public dis-
play of deeply private emotion.
I am in awe of this city. It’s
transience—how people come
and go in order to make lasting
change—the manner in which
the privately mortal intersects
with living history.
And we are here, a part of
WLP, flitting in between every-
thing. Last night, I took an Uber
home. I sat in the back seat, at
first, in silence.
I thought of James Salter and
the couple at theWhite House.
After a few minutes, I asked the
driver if I could turn up the AM
dial—the music real and beauti-
ful.
I
Above, Washington Leadership Program scholars meeting with the Ajit Pai, the Indian-American Commissioner on the Federal
Communication Commission, during the second week of their 7-week program starting June 13.. From, left, Scholars Shuchi
Goyal, Rahi Punjabi, Ali Jessani, Commissioner Pai, scholars Jackson Walker, Kavita Raval, Shikha Chivukula, Tina Lapsia,
Mehul Bhagat, and Radhe Patel. Below, celebrating Marriage Equality in front of the White House. From left, Rahi Punjabi, Rina
Patel, Radhe Patel, Shuchi Goyal, Jackson Walker, and Mehul Bhagat.
Guest speakers and interns at the ongoing Washington Leadership Progarm in Washington, D.C., From left,Persis Khambatta of the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Kapil Sharma of Wipro, their son Rohan Sharma, WLP scholars Rahi Punjabi, Tina
Lapsia, Jackson Walker, Shikha Chivikula, Radhe Patel, Kavita Raval, Ali Jessani, Shuchi Goyal, and Mehul Bhagat
Every summer a
dozen or so South
Asian interns chosen
by the Washington
Leadership Program
spend from June 13
to Aug. 7 in the
capital hobnobbing
with policymakers
and lawmakers,
experts and activists
ostensibly to equip
them with skills to
take on future
leadership positions.
This is one intern’s
engaging account of
life Inside the
Beltway
A Day In The Life Of An Intern
