Auntie Sam

Am I the only one dismayed by the fawning, servile, wall-to-wall media coverage of the Hillary Clinton visit? Ever since she set foot in Mumbai, she has received lavish, sycophantic and non-probing attention from our otherwise rude and sceptical TV channels and newspapers. From what she had for breakfast, to what shoes she wore, to what she liked to drink, to her favourite flowers, to her preference in brass handicrafts, to her ‘power dressing’—there was no end to the investigative curiosity of our hacks determined to ferret out every bit of trivia. The substantive agenda Secretary Clinton came to push—climate change, go easy on Pakistan, NPT, WTO—almost got lost in the hoopla celebrating her arrival. We’ve had other secretaries of state—Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice—visit the country, but the coverage was sober, measured and in proportion to the political stature of the dignitary. The notice paid to Mrs Clinton would seem as if she, not Barack Obama, is the President of the United States.

I am not unmindful of who she is. She is Bill Clinton’s wife, she nearly won the race to the White House, she has numerous Indian friends in her native place, she is a self-confessed India-lover, she is absolutely crazy about tandoori raan at the Bukhara, she is one of the world’s most powerful women (so is Indra Nooyi of Pepsi!). However, that still does not qualify her for hogging prime-time viewing and reading space.

Oh, I nearly forgot. She is also a celebrity. Not in the Carla Bruni or the Angelina Jolie sense but in the Priyanka Gandhi sense. This kind of celebrity attracts at once Page 3 devotees and Edit page snobs. Therefore, she is a potent mix of the serious and the showbiz. But, and I may be in a minority here, that is insufficient justification as to why our English media literally rolled over for her.

Our robust republic has ambitions of emerging as a global player, a 21st century superpower. Sadly, we still carry past colonial baggage. The colonial mindset manifests when someone white, possessing both soft and hard power, condescends to flatter and patronise us. We go gaga. John Company may have departed; unfortunately, its place has been taken over by Uncle Sam. Let’s admit it. The Americans are our new rulers, we are in awe of them—even though they frequently kick our butts.