India-US Relations : News and Discussion- II

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 28 Sep 2015 05:11

Okay......my Midwest vote goes to the East Coast. Silicon Valley and technical glitches

Poor hosts struggling to keep the audience alive.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 Sep 2015 05:12

Program is on... If you are not inside follow @pmmodiinca ...
(At present, the guy from my home-town (Ohio) is doing his comedy..

Or use this youtube:

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 Sep 2015 05:44

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 06:01

When is ModiJi going to arrive on the stage. Thats what I am waiting for

.

Just wondering, but to those at the venue. From TV images it appears that almost all of the audience is SDRE (I could be wrong). Any locals, especially the honchos showing up?

Ashok Sarraff · Post by **Ashok Sarraff** » 28 Sep 2015 06:04

Lots of technical problems! The organizer's could've done much better. MC's should always be prepared with some stock fillers for such moments. I hope the speech goes smoothly!

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 28 Sep 2015 06:13

horrible music or horrible audio. i have no clue and i have never heard kailash kher earlier. i feel like stepping out to see the bloodied moon rather.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Sep 2015 06:25

Hey! This commentary is way too slow. Pls update! Where are the standards of the krikit dhaga, hain?

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 28 Sep 2015 06:45

Yawn, its going to be the same old speech. The clouds are heavy so I can't watch the moon instead.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 28 Sep 2015 06:47

Is it automatic translation/transliteration that's flashing on the screen? Really butchered Shaheed Bhagat Singh's name..

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 28 Sep 2015 06:50

Kashi wrote:Is it automatic translation/transliteration that's flashing on the screen? Really butchered Shaheed Bhagat Singh's name..

Indians generally have this problem with delivering technical services at events. I don't know what it is.

So far, I'm unimpressed with the overall presentation quality. These organizers didn't do their hw.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 07:17

I am watching on TV, and so far, its mostly an NRI pep rally. I would like him to get into some specific tech initiatives, what he discussed with CEOs, India US relations etc.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Sep 2015 07:22

As usual, Modi ji is able to connect with audience very well particularly with young ones. He gives examples that relate to the audience, raises their self esteem by giving examples of strength and grit.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 07:23

He is getting into the tech part now, which is good.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Sep 2015 07:25

Modi usually praises the host nation and in this case host state of california and how Indians connected with it since 19th century. This is in stark contract with Obama who kept pooping on India during his visit.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 07:29

I would like him to show a little more gratitude to CA, and USA for the opportunities gives to us SDREs. Its the right etiquette, and respectful of Congressmen/women gathered there.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Sep 2015 07:31

well atleast he did not poop on CA mentioning police brutality in US, unlike POTUS in india who tried to lecture us on religious freedom etc.

indians who went to CA were not war refugees who CA took in, clothed and fed...they went there out of choice.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Sep 2015 07:34

ha ha ...stumped!...I almost foresaw such a remark coming and hence posted mine

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 07:44

Boy is is launching into TSP terror without mentioning TSP. Also subtle message to US that there are no good terrorists (TSP), and bad terrorists (Al Queda, ISIS).

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Sep 2015 07:48

Modi talks about Terrorism and how US/West always looked the other way when India was raising awareness. Now, the world is accepting the terrorism is scourge.

He does express gratitude to all Californian and US politicians.

Concludes the speech with Bharat Mata ki Jai and Veer Bhagat Singh Amar Rahe.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 28 Sep 2015 07:49

I think the Chinese visit garnered more attention. The pope's visit didn't help either. There really isn't much on this in American MSM.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 28 Sep 2015 07:52

Satya_anveshi wrote:Modi talks about Terrorism and how US/West always looked the other way when India was raising awareness. Now, the world is accepting the terrorism is scourge.

He does express gratitude to all Californian and US politicians.

Concludes the speech with Bharat Mata ki Jai and Veer Bhagat Singh Amar Rahe.

This is all feel good talk. The cold reality is we're alone to a great extent in this fight. American's won't tolerate arming another competitor after what happened with China. There will be companies flocking to India but perhaps not the extent of China. Pakistan will be kept around and terror will be tolerated as long as it bites others.

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 28 Sep 2015 07:57

Agreed....and that, sir, is also strength of Modi ji. It is building on the strength and agreements rather than focus too much on disagreements and not making a headway.

Anyone with little gray cells knows US's war on terrorism was charade with nothing done to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, biggest promoters of terrorism as state policy.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 07:58

RoyJi, thats expected. India is still way below on the radar screen of US in general, all the hoopla on our side notwithstanding. But that said, I would rather he quietly cut good deals, and increase US investment in India, than any bogus good press with Megyn Kelly, Anderson Cooper and other media mouthpieces. Let the Chinese get that

.

UlanBatori · Post by **UlanBatori** » 28 Sep 2015 07:58

WOW!

That part about fighting terrorism really brought out the fighter in him - saying how India had already suffered from 40+ years of terrorism, innocents being murdered, before the 1990s even began.
Tells it like it is. The Bhagat Singh part was also super. Right on target.

I wish they had ended with a rendition of

Bharat mein rahne wala hum...
Bharat ki baat sunata hum

and had the whole arena dancing to the tune.

But.. one simply could not have asked for more.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 28 Sep 2015 08:01

Satya_anveshi wrote:Modi usually praises the host nation and in this case host state of california and how Indians connected with it since 19th century. This is in stark contract with Obama who kept pooping on India during his visit.

screw om baba! he is a goner!

ignore the nay sayers and join the yes men!

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 28 Sep 2015 08:21

I did not like the national anthem rendering, why take liberties with it?

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 Sep 2015 08:24

UlanBatori wrote:WOW!

That part about fighting terrorism really brought out the fighter in him - saying how India had already suffered from 40+ years of terrorism, innocents being murdered, before the 1990s even began.
Tells it like it is. The Bhagat Singh part was also super. Right on target. ..

Looking at the last part of the speech..

Some gut feeling tells me (and a few have the same impression) that some thing serious..(like some intelligence report he came to know.. or something turned up in private talks).. he got distracted..
(For example he forgot to announce SF/India flight at the right time.. and missed Environment even after he said he is going to talk about that.(and that too in California where Environment is quite popular subject to talk.)

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Sep 2015 08:33

Is the Modi event still going on or it is done? Radio silence from BRF jingos in the audience.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 28 Sep 2015 08:38

RoyG wrote:This is all feel good talk. The cold reality is we're alone to a great extent in this fight. American's won't tolerate arming another competitor after what happened with China. There will be companies flocking to India but perhaps not the extent of China. Pakistan will be kept around and terror will be tolerated as long as it bites others.

Not really. I believe there are subliminal hints that he's laying down to the Americans and the rest. He appears to be saying, "You did not help us when we were fighting these savages on our own. We overcame them without you and in spite of you and we'll continue to do so in the future. So do not expect us to join your damned coalitions to 'fight terror', because you want us to.

We WILL continue to grow, with you without you in spite of you (shamelessly paraphrased from PVNR

). In the spirit of cooperation, I as the elected representative of 1.2 billion strong Indians, invite you to participate in this endeavour."

The aim is to improve the Indian economy to such an extent that feeding the Pakis and their egos becomes irrelevant to us.

ArmenT · Post by **ArmenT** » 28 Sep 2015 08:40

Just out of curiosity, how about some stats like:
(a) How many people are attending (or if that info is not available, what's the capacity of the place?)
(b) If known, how many jingos are in attendance? (rough count, no need to post IDs)
(c) AmberG: Are you in the audience perchance? Was wondering about the origin of the picture you posted above

.

Thanks in advance.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 Sep 2015 08:42

How to butcher Bhagat Singh's name:

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 28 Sep 2015 08:46

ArmenT - There were about 18,500 people..and yes, there was a large IIT crowd..

Anyone knows why Kamala Harris did not show up?
(And Loretta Sanchez - the one who is running against was there)

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 08:49

Armeet, apparently, the capacity is about 18K, and it was mostly full according one of the TV channels I was watching. It felt that way too looking at the TV images.

Overall, I give him a B+ for this speech. Pepping up nostalgic NRIs is easy

. I am disappointed he didn't talk a whole lot about his high-tech vision. His discussions with SV CEOs. His plans for renewable energy and sustainable growth. I mean someone said that if every Indian family owns a car, then even whole of India is taken as a parking lot, there won't be enough parking space. So he could have spoken of an alternative growth model, holistic living; all themes he has touched upon in some way shape or form before. This would have been a great venue to have expanded on that.

Kashi · Post by **Kashi** » 28 Sep 2015 08:58

CRamS wrote:I mean someone said that if every Indian family owns a car, then even whole of India is taken as a parking lot, there won't be enough parking space. So he could have spoken of an alternative growth model, holistic living; all themes he has touched upon in some way shape or form before. This would have been a great venue to have expanded on that.

Tell them not to worry. Mutli-storied car parks are a reality now!!

mayo · Post by **mayo** » 28 Sep 2015 09:08

Amber G. wrote:
UlanBatori wrote:WOW!

That part about fighting terrorism really brought out the fighter in him - saying how India had already suffered from 40+ years of terrorism, innocents being murdered, before the 1990s even began.
Tells it like it is. The Bhagat Singh part was also super. Right on target. ..
Looking at the last part of the speech..

Some gut feeling tells me (and a few have the same impression) that some thing serious..(like some intelligence report he came to know.. or something turned up in private talks).. he got distracted..
(For example he forgot to announce SF/India flight at the right time.. and missed Environment even after he said he is going to talk about that.(and that too in California where Environment is quite popular subject to talk.)

Two things struck me as very odd:

1) While entering the arena, he didn't shake hands with the fans. Very unusual of him.

2) He said something like "jeete hain desh ke liye, aur jaan bhee denge to desh ke liye" (I live for the nation and will lay my life for it). He said that once before during the lok-sabha campaign when he was in Mumbai. Some of you may remember that. There were talks about threats to his life during that time.

Something seems awry.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 28 Sep 2015 09:16

He was freely mingling and shaking hands with the crowd after the speech

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 28 Sep 2015 09:17

One of my current Bhakt friends who was going through AAP phase (2012 - 2013) was in the know of Anna Hazare's visit to US. The first few public engagements went smooth until it hit SoCal (my other hangout). In SoCal he was warned of some threat by Unkils agents, and his security detail were acting as if they had a bug in their mush. He was wheeled in and wheeled out rather quickly and there was literally no time to network as soon as his speech was over.

I suspect NaMo might have been warned by someone about some threat . Modiji likes being with people. He is the ultimate people person. It could be a hard thing for him to keep away from his fans, its not in his nature.

I think he was taking his frustration out on the reasons why those threats exists.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Sep 2015 09:19

The SAP Center holds 18K and is packed to the rafters. I heard an additional 27K were outside watching it on big screens? Did they take over the SAP Center parking lots for that?

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 28 Sep 2015 09:33

Odd, there appeared to be scattered empty seats here and there. Though the occupancy seemed uniformly distributed, a few empty patches was visible. In my mind, I was scolding those fellows who got passes and didn't show up

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 28 Sep 2015 09:37

Becoz of them Jhujar couldn't get me a pass

I guess its typical SDRE mentality, flaunting an invite to the Modi event as a pheku proof of their importance.

By all accounts Modi's townhall at FB was a roaring success. I cannot even recall which leader has such grace as Modi to personally ask Zuck's parents' to stand up and be recognized for their son's achievements and later meeting with them 1-1. Can one imagine Rahul Baba or Kejri or Manmohan having the intelligence or grace to do such a thing? I think not. If India does not elect Modi for a 2nd term, then it deserves the most pathetic "leaders" on the planet.