With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility…

Indira Mishra

The Hope Fairy has done her magic again…! She’s waved her wand and given the world a Barack Obama.

Tall, dark and charismatic, he now holds the throbbing pulse of the world as the 44th President of America and the first African – American one at that. It is indeed, a great occasion, not only for American but also the whole world. Finally, the world has woken up and paid heed to humanism rather than remaining in the clutches of racism.

‘Obama’ in Swahili means ‘The Blessed One’. And the world hopes he turns out to be true to his name. His inaugural speech on 20th Jan 09 seems to have created waves around the globe. What remains to be seen is how well he keeps his word and surpasses his predecessors. Although it’s still early days to decide the effectiveness of the Obama regime, one cannot help but keep one’s fingers and toes crossed and hope for better times ahead under his reign.

Being the president of a super-power like America is no small feat. And cleaning up the mess the world is currently in will prove to be a Herculean task in itself. The twin demons – global economic recession and the terror situations loom menacingly, hankering for immediate world-wide attention. Issues regarding the environment and natural resources need to be resolved in a viable manner. And these are only some of the threats the world faces today.

Having been brought to power in such dire times, Barack Obama has taken on multiple challenges upon himself. Not only has he got to prove his efficiency as the American president but also as a leader whom the whole world can turn to for guidance and support at dire times such as these.

Makes us ponder upon Spiderman’s maxim, doesn’t it? “With great power comes great responsibility…”