The United States Inauguration

The United States celebrated the inauguration of its forty-sixth President - Joe Biden. And what a beautiful ceremony it was.

The celebration had multiple highlights and facets that were remarkable and symbolic. It was certainly a great day for Mr. Biden and his family, the Democrats, the entire United States, and the world. This inauguration served as a monumental and sanguine event that brought a glimmer of hope in times of where hope seems like a far-fetched and nearly impossible dream.

I watched the inauguration on my television at 9:30pm IST. I watched the ceremony in the hopes to see the difference between the oaths of office administered to the President of the United States and the President of India. But it served a bigger purpose. This was the first time I actually watched the inauguration of a US President and I was simply mesmerized. I have watched the Indian President's inauguration and I must say there are many things to be noticed but the feeling, the honor, and the pride in seeing such events, even though I am not a citizen of the United States, was surmounting and exactly the same. Both of the events had a good man, who wishes to serve his country to the extent of his ability and his will to bring development and happiness to the lives of his people, stand up to the challenge.

The power and the symbolism in the entire event were enough to bring goosebumps. The fanfare and the verity in the entire ceremony were amazing.

The swearing-in of the first woman, first African-American, and the first Asian-American Vice President, Kamala Harris, was the landmark that the United States achieved and made all the women around the world feel pride and admiration.

But the one thing that was the most inspirational for me was the poem 'The Hill We Climb' by Amanda Gorman.

Here is the transcript of the poem. Try not to cry...

When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry. A sea we must wade. We braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet isn't always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn't always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose. To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man. And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all. Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried.

That we'll forever be tied together, victorious. Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division. Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. If we're to live up to our own time, then victory won't lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we've made. That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare. It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It's the past we step into and how we repair it. We've seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. This is the era of just redemption. We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour. But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves. So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us? We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain. If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children's birthright. So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the golden hills of the West. We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution. We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover. And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid. The new dawn balloons as we free it. For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.

She has so beautifully portrayed democracy at its worst and its finest.

The lines 'while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated' were so, so meaningful that USA is a democracy and while there may be challenges and that there may be big hurdles, they will attain democracy at its finest. However long that may take.

We all have to be brave enough to see past the murky times and look at the great and beautiful beyond we are sure to achieve. We are way past the starting line but still have a long way to go before we reach the finish line. That the barriers that try to stop us, will fall flat against our might. That we, who dare and we, who are brave enough to stand in front of the daunting present will reign and bring on the bright future.

Thank you for reading.

Logging off.

Yours truly,

Sirisha.