Anil Kalhan

In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama made a point of proclaiming:

“[the United States's] patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.”  [link]

This morning, at the Washington National Cathedral, the Inaugural Prayer Service extended Obama’s message of spiritual pluralism by including participants from a variety of different religious traditions. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, and Uma Mysorekar, president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, were two of the six participants to give responsive prayers during the service.

SAJAforum readers may recall Mysorekar from her appearance on The Colbert Report and her efforts to have Diwali placed on New York City’s official “parking holiday” calendar. Mattson, who is a professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary, is “the first woman, the first nonimmigrant and the first Muslim convert” to be elected as ISNA’s president.

The video of the service is available here, and the text of both Mattson’s and Mysorekar’s responsive prayers appears in the official program for the service:

Continue reading at SAJAforum…

In 1993, the last time I was in Washington to attend a presidential inauguration, Representatives Robert Matsui and Norman Mineta cohosted the first significant Asian American reception in connection with any U.S. presidential inauguration. While some attendees had mixed feelings, since by then it had become clear that President Clinton’s initial round of cabinet nominees would not include any Asian Americans, there was nevertheless a sense that the Asian American community had marked an important political milestone.

Fast forward sixteen years: The president-elect is a biracial, second generation American who grew up in Hawaii and considers himself desi. South Asians and other Asian Americans feature prominently in both the transition and the new administration’s significant appointees. And in contrast to that one Capitol Hill reception in 1993, Washington is chock full of Asian American events in connection with the inaugural celebration, including several South Asian-oriented gatherings.

South Asians for Obama got a jump on the festivities on Saturday evening, hosting an informal happy hour which drew over 300 attendees. One of the group’s cofounders, Hrishi Karthikeyan, took some time out of his inaugural week schedule to answer a few questions.

Continue reading at SAJAforum…