A Promised Land

I had along awaited the release of Barack Obama's autobiography. His is a remarkable story, as was evident even while it was unfolding. Beyond the cliched historical significance of first black presidency, his journey also stood out for his non-race related struggles, his thin pre-presidency resume followed by his rapid rise into the Presidency and his growth in the job. 

I was always curious to know how he must have felt deep down as he first conceived these grand ambitions and then through a combination of hard work and opportunity travelled the road so rarely travelled. Nothing in the usual sense of training could have prepared him for either conceiving or embarking on such a journey, leave aside succeeding at it. So then what made him tick?

For long I had felt a connection to his ambitions, his choices and his conduct. Not to suggest any similarities in our aptitudes rather a shared understanding of certain broad principles in life.  He is an inspiration to me perhaps as to millions around the World given the universal appeal of his journey. He isn't inspiring merely as an underdog or for a deprived starting point (in fact arguably he can't claim any such), rather for marshalling all the resources available to him to scale the most prohibitive summits. 

Those inspired by him are likely curious to know what was going on in his brain in his teen years ? or when did he begin to believe that he can be the President of the United States ? or how did he find the courage to overcome failures, of which there must have been many? what kept him going? why did he never think of changing course? and many more such questions. 

As one such seeker, I found this book engrossing. It read like a book not by a President but by a person who has also been a President. It was authentic, vivid, humane and well-crafted. Nothing that Barack Obama does, it seems, lacks thorough preparation and hard work and neither does this book. While he takes the liberty of venturing into thoughts far and wide like a tentative explorer, the writing itself is the work of a master with all the t's crossed and i's dotted. The sentence structures, vocabulary, narrative sequences, reassuring endings and expectant beginnings are all deployed effectively in rendering of this magnum opus that spans 700 pages in Volume 1 with likely another 700 pages to come.   

An oft-repeated assessment of Obama's presidency was that he had made the Presidency more accessible to the common man. I was always skeptical of this assessment as I wasn't sure whether this is the intended effect that he was aspiring for and therefore if it was all a big show. This book clears all such doubts and shows that there was no other way he could have conducted himself in the White House. Making Presidency accessible was not a show put up by him, nor even a goal he consciously aspired to rather it was the only natural outcome when a man like Barack Obama as described within these pages became the President. 

I will refrain from summarizing the book or quoting sentences that touched me of which there were many. 

Rather let me talk about the overall impact. 

Firstly there are no excuses for not trying our very best in life if we were to draw inspiration from this book. It doesn't shock you into action by narrating a story of overcoming one major hurdle in a certain phase of life (a handicap for example), rather it is story of constantly weaving together the opportunities to create a tapestry so remarkable that it becomes so much more than the sum of its parts. 

It is a story of risk taking as every such extraordinary success story is bound to be. The enormous role of luck and destiny is well acknowledged but not as an ever looming threat rather to keep one humble while at the same time prodding one along to focus their efforts on what they can control. In Obama's words it is about playing the hand that we are dealt with with "nerve and grace". These two words I walked away with as an operative principle. 

Many discussions around policies, politics and leadership are rich and informative. While a lot of these events unfolded on television during his presidency, the book helps us understand these from his vantage point. In parts it is his defense, in parts his witness and in certain places his perspective on the brutal tactical play that has come to define the White House and politics in general. Barring a few instances, none of these are written in bad taste or with an intention to settle scores. The only moments where it seems his emotions might not have fully settled relate to his defense of some of his actions seen as mistakes in the media. One example is when he clarifies a slip of tongue while reacting to Henry Louis Gates incident. All this in my opinion is just as expected from the autobiography of someone who has been in the public eye for so long and with such intensity. 

A final word to emphasize the quality of writing itself. It is so well written that even if he was describing the life of someone else in these pages he would have come across as an accomplished  writer. The fact that he happens to be the protagonist of this work as well just leaves you admiring him for the two career successes that he managed to achieve in the same lifetime - a President and a writer.