Obama’s dance steps make waves in US

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama’s unscripted dance moves while celebrating Diwali with students in Mumbai are making news back home in the US.

Pictures of Obama’s “Dancing, Diwali”, as CNN put it, are already hitting the airwaves.

“Obama started his second day in India on a lighter note: pulling a few dance moves and celebrating a major religious festival with local students,” it said reporting how the Obamas spent Sunday morning at a local school

“Youngsters performed dances in colorful saris to mark the festival of lights. The president bobbed his head to the music and clapped.”

“Obama took a break from work this morning to participate in cultural events here in Mumbai,” reported conservative Fox News in a long colour piece. Obamas “attended a Diwali candle lighting and literally colourful performance at a local high school and the festivities brought both the Obamas to their feet.”

For the influential New York Times, it was the “big news” of the day.

Reporting on how “In India, Obama Faces Tough Questions From Students,” at a Mumbai college, it said Obama “defended his administration’s stance toward Pakistan”

“Obama’s answers hardly broke news; he was characteristically delicate in all of his responses. Indeed, the big news of the day may have happened before he showed up at the college: earlier, during a visit to a high school, Obama showed off his dance moves, in an image that may well become an iconic one of this trip,” it said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)