Washington: As the focus shifts from the
joint press conference to the White House State Dinner, US
First Lady Michelle Obama revealed the buzz behind the scene
of the first state dinner which President Barack Obama is
hosting since taking office.
Marcus Samuellson, one of the "finest chefs" in the
country, has been invited to prepare the four course dinner -
potato and egg plant salad, red lentil soup with fresh cheese,
roasted potato dumpling with tomato chutney, chick peas and
okra or green curry prawns and coconut and basmati rice.
The dessert consists of pumpkin pie tart, pear tatin,
whipped cream and caramel sauce.
Michelle said "lots of work goes into making this happen"
and hoped the guests would "enjoy the best of American
cooking" served on `Bush` china-cutlery, introduced by her
predecessor former First Lady Laura Bush.
An impressive list of performance by Oscar winners A R
Rahman and Jennifer Hudson, jazz vocalist Kurt Elling and the
National Symphony Orchestra await the visitors in the evening.
"He is (Rahman) also an Oscar winner and he helped create
some of the music for the film `Slumdog Millionaire`,"
Michelle told the gathering. "I don`t know if you guys got to
see that movie -- incredible movie."
Speaking to a gathering of local students and the press,
Michelle said the State Dinner is critical for taking
international relations forward and "setting milestones" in
foreign policy.
"Throughout history, they`ve given US presidents -- and
the American people -- the opportunity to make important
milestones in foreign relations. And they have helped build
stronger ties with nations as well as people around the
world," she said.
The First Lady explained that the State Dinner would be
an opportunity for Obama and Singh to take talks about
important issues of health, economy and climate change in a
different setting than a diplomatic stage.
The hostess for the evening spoke of growing ties between
India and the US, and especially highlighted the Indian
students presence in the country.
The First Lady said that resolving global problems did
not bank solely on interactions between governments but
growing relations between the people of different nations.
"And who knows, maybe one of you all sitting at this
table.... will be living and studying somewhere in India --
maybe New Delhi or Mumbai or Bangalore," she said.
On the occasion, Michelle spoke of Mahatma Gandhi`s
influence on her husband who has always kept a picture of the
icon since he became a senator.
"And with a simple call, Gandhi would say: To be the
change we wish to see in the world -- we are that change. We
are that change," she added.
-PTI
