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Can’t Be a Purist If You Want to Make Change: Obama at Town Hall

The Town Hall will begin at 3:45 pm and will be live-streamed.

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Former US President Barack Obama addressed the Town Hall in New Delhi. Ahead of the Town Hall, Obama spoke at the HT Leadership Summit on Friday.

He spoke about the importance of having a dialogue in the current noisy political climate, and the need to empower young people.

He added at the HT Leadership Summit that both prime ministers, Manmohan Singh and Modi value strong relations with the US.

Snapshot
  • Former US President Barack Obama addressed a Town Hall in New Delhi
  • “Since we’re in Delhi, I must mention the need for clean air,” he said about global health
  • Earlier Obama spoke at the HT Leadership Summit
  • “Modi has a vision for India,” said Barack Obama at the summit
  • Obama also bragged about having a great dal recipe
4:09 PM , 01 Dec

Q&A

How Do You Build Consensus When There Are Opposing Views?

This is a problem in democracies around the world. It’s important to listen more than you speak. It’s harder to do these days because there’s so much noise. 

What Is Your Vision of a Global Health Community?

If you have a healthy community, that is an indicator of overall development for the country. It starts with young people, who are naturally healthy if people don’t screw them up [sic]. 

Where Does Technology Fit in the Process of Training the Youth?

The obvious advantage is that you can reach more people very quickly. The fact that we had social media early in my campaign... [sic] we had MySpace back then, that’s how old I am! But we could transmit information to people directly. But technology in education doesn’t reduce the importance of teachers. 

How Do You Stay Encouraged When Dealing With Change?

Know ahead of time that change is hard, so you are not getting discouraged. Try to break up your efforts into bite-sized manageable pieces. Take time to have some fun within your work. I did not always follow this advice. All I did was party from the age of 15 to 20. Then something happened, and till 27 I was only working. I took myself very seriously. But if you’re doing something great or important, you have to make it fun.

As a Transgender, I’m a Criminal Under Section 377. How Do I Deal With That?

It begins with finding your voice. That’s true for any group that is marginalised. Break down the perception that you are different, so people recognise the humanity in you. This is why art is a powerful tool for social change. Find the right alliances, and then its a matter of mobilising political opinions. But that’s going to take some time, but don’t lose hope.

How Do You Empower Young People?

What I see when I travel around the world is political parties are full of old people, who have been around forever. Two things results from that – young people who aspire to have influence get blocked. Second, if you’ve been a leader for too long at the same spot, you lose touch. What is true for political parties is true for every organisation. 

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3:51 PM , 01 Dec

Obama Addresses Town Hall

As difficult as the world can seem, over the past 100 years we’ve come to a world where almost every woman can vote. We’ve cut extreme poverty and childhood mortality in half since 1990.
Barack Obama
None of this happened because of luck. It happened because people chose to make it happen. Many of the people who started these movements were young. Martin Luther King was 24 when he became an activist.
12:23 PM , 01 Dec

Obama at HT Leadership Summit

At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Obama spoke about how politicians use social media and whether their tweeting out their thoughts and messages oversimplifies complex issues.

Social media is powerful and can be used for good or evil. We are just beginning to understanding their potential... It’s important to be mindful of the power of these tools and also know its limits.
12:17 PM , 01 Dec

"I Like Modi"

I like him! He has a vision for the country that is being implemented in many ways and is modernising the economy. But I was also great friends with Dr Singh and what he did was the opening of gates for the modern Indian economy.

“The unifying theme of strong India-US relations was important”, said Obama about the two Indian Prime Ministers during his tenure as US President.

Obama said that PM Modi was instrumental in helping with the passage of the Paris Accord.

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Published: 01 Dec 2017, 9:30 AM IST
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