Watching CNN in India is much the same as watching at home.  Cricket scores replace football on the ticker below, but the programming is identical.  However, there is a notable difference in watching American news from the vantage of a distant country.  Especially while following the current primary elections, it strikes me that no other political process is of such great (and even grave) importance to the world at large as our own.  And while we create a late night drama out of our electoral narrative, the rest of the world sits at a distance wringing their hands, eyeballs peeled.

Even the illiterate here in India know our president’s name and often offer their opinion of his leadership.  On the other hand, I have been surprised to find that many Indians not only know about our current election cycle but are aware of the various candidates and their respective agendas. 

It is no small thing to note that much of the world sees their own fate intimately linked to the decisions made on faraway US soil.  American leaders are “world leaders” and their appointment is really an international issue that penetrates the backwaters of Kerala and is of daily importance to Indian shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers.  I can’t help but wonder how many Americans realize that their vote, cast in their local polling station, has global repercussions.  Along those lines, I can’t imagine that all if all the people of this world were given a chance to vote in an American presidential election, there would still be such a shocking apathy on election day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 2:27 pm and is filed under india.