#’MannKiBaat’: 10 quotes from the conversation featuring #NarendraModi and #BarackObama

The special 35-minute-long radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ featuring US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aired on January 27, 2015.
1. Obama was asked whether he, after the end of his Presidency, will work in the field of health care like Bill Gates and his wife Melinda who run the Gates Foundation.

To this, the US President said he was looking forward to partnering with the government as well as non-governmental organisations in India, around broader public health issues including obesity. Adding, that his wife Michelle, is already working on the cause.

2. During the radio conversation, Obama said that India has a lot to teach many other countries who may not be advancing as rapidly in improving public health.

“…we think that there is a lot of progress to be made here and I am very excited about the possibilities of considering this work even after I leave office.”

3. To a question on female infanticide, Modi said there is a lot of concern because of the sex ratio in India as for every 1000 boys, the number of girls is much less.

“The main reason for this is a defect in our attitudes towards boys and girls,” he said.

In this respect, the Prime Minister said, the life of the US President is an inspiration, considering the “way he has brought up his two daughters, the way he is proud of his two daughters.”

4. Modi underlined, “to save the girl child and to educate the girl child is our social duty, cultural duty and humanitarian responsibility. We should honour it.”

5. In response to a question to Modi about an old photograph clicked outside the White House and whether he had ever thought that one day he would go inside to meet the President:

“At that time, I had never thought that sometime in my life, I would get a chance to visit the White House,” said Modi who met Obama there in Washington in September 2014.

To the same question, Obama said, “The same is true for me. When I first went to the White House, I stood outside that same fence, and looked in, and I certainly did not imagine that I would ever be visiting there, much less living there.”

6. “I think both of us have been blessed with an extraordinary opportunity, coming from relatively humble beginnings. And when I think about what’s best in America and what’s best in India, the notion that a tea seller or somebody who’s born to a single mother like me, could end up leading our countries, is an extraordinary example of the opportunities that exist within our countries,” said Obama.

7. “And that’s why we are emphasizing school and higher education. Making sure that children are healthy and making sure those opportunities are available to children of all backgrounds, girls and boys, people of all religious faiths and of all races in the United States. Because you never know who might be the next Prime Minister of India, or who might be the next President of United States. They might not always look the part right off the bat. And they might just surprise you if you give them the chance,” said Obama.

8. “I have much greater faith in India and the United States, countries that are open information societies, in being able to succeed and thrive in this New Information Age than closed societies that try to control the information that citizens receive,” said Obama, talking about technology.

9. When asked “what inspires you and makes you smile at the end of a bad day at work as leaders of two major economies?” Obama said, “…the only problems that come to my desk are the ones that nobody else solves… So there are days when it’s tough and frustrating. And that’s true in Foreign Affairs. That is true in Domestic Affairs. But I tell you what inspires me … almost every day I meet somebody who tells me, ‘You made a difference in my life’.”

10. “…I think everybody knows what it is like to have a bad day at work. You just have to keep on working through it. Eventually you make a difference,” said Obama.