Obama's India visit: Namobama bonhomie in full bloom at banquet

NEW DELHI: “I'm glad I am not being asked to dance,“ said US President Barack Obama. “During our last visit, we were at a Diwali programme. The headlines the next day read, `Obama visits India, Michelle rocks India'.“

The bonhomie between Obama and Modi found full expression at the presidential state banquet on Sunday evening. The Obamas were relaxed, as was PM Modi. Michelle Obama attired in a midnight blue floral dress and a windswept hairstyle lived up to her reputation of the fashion icon. Barack Obama, who had dispensed with a black tie, joked that he wanted to wear a `Modi kurta'. The choice in music played was eclectic with the evening beginning with `Chaudvi Ka Chaand' and ending with Stevie Wonder's `Part-Time Lover'.

Modi, on his third outfit change of the day , appeared in a light grey bandgala which elicited an approving epithet of a “style icon“ from Obama, repeating a recent headline that said Michelle could be dethroned by Modi.

President Pranab Mukherjee made a special gesture by holding his first state dinner at the new Rashtrapati Bhavan cultural centre, announcing that the lights on the building were being lit a day early in Obamas' honour.

Mukherjee gifted his US counterpart a painting by Rajasthan painter Jay Kumar.His wife Shubra Mukherjee also gifted Obama a tea set and a pashmina shawl to Michelle.

The guest list did not include the glitter of Bollywood but key captains of Indian industry graced the occasion, indicating the PM's interest in bringing India Inc into the Indo-US strategic partnership. Ratan Tata and his successor, Cyrus Mistry, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, Gautam Adani, Sunil Mittal, G M Rao, Pratap Reddy of Apollo hospitals were among those representing Indian industry . The government was represented by almost the entire Cabinet. Among the CMs, it was UP's Akhilesh Yadav who grabbed a lot of attention from industry and the political class alike. Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi was a hit with the US delegation as were the two handsome economists of the Modi government -Raghuram Rajan and Arvind Subramanian.

The father of the N-deal which saw its conclusion today was also very much present. Former PM Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur received a warm response from the Obamas who spent an extra few minutes chatting with them. Both Michelle and Barack Obama greeted Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with outstretched hands, and in a special gesture, Sonia was seen sitting next to Michelle during the dinner, after a 23-minute dance medley which offered bite-sized performances of Indian classical dance tradition.

Over galauti kebabs and fish curry , Obama in his dinner speech paid tribute to his own and Modi's humble origins saying that a life story like his can only happen in America while a life story like Modi's could only happen in India. He said it was important to remember those years when Modi's father sold tea at a railway station and his mother worked in other people's homes to support the family . Joking about Modi's famed work ethic, Obama said he thought he was doing well with only five hours of sleep a night until he heard that Modi slept for only three, drawing instant laughter.