Villagers in the tiny village of Kanpura caught a glimpse of US President Barack Obama through video-conferencing during a visit to Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College on Sunday.
Kanpura witnessed interaction between two different worlds through IT revolution. Class 7 student Suresh was overwhelmed, telling every body how he said “Hello Mr Obama!” “Wo bohot bade aadmi hain. Maine unse kaha, ‘Hello Mr Obama. (He is a VVIP, I said ‘Hello Mr Obama’ to him),” said Suresh. The administration put up screens at several places in and around the gram panchayat headquarters. The villagers welcomed Mr Obama in unison while saying “Ram ran sa, padharo Obama sab” in a traditional manner. Villagers danced to drum beats when the announcement was made that Mr Obama is appearing on the screen.
Union minister Sachin Pilot was hailed as a hero by the locals. “It is only been made possible because of Mr Pilot,” said Shivaprasad, a villager.
“It was aimed to show the world how India was using IT in serving the people. We resolve that all the panchayat headquarters will be equipped with high-speed Internet by the year 2012,” says Mr Pilot.