Obama and his wife, Michelle, initially sat on the sidelines at the Holy Name School in the south of the city, clapping to the beat as youngsters in colourful costumes performed a traditional dance for the annual festival.
The First Lady, in a checked dress with pink cardigan, then joined in enthusiastically and eventually persuaded her more reluctant-looking husband to accompany her on the dancefloor.
The president, with his suit jacket off and the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, was then shown how to perform the distinctive hand and arm gestures that are an integral part of Indian dancing.
Children then clamoured for photographs of the couple and autographs.
US First Lady Michelle Obama on Saturday danced barefoot to Bollywood tunes, as she visited a charity helping orphans and runaways in India’s entertainment capital, Mumbai.
The woman dubbed America’s “Mom-in-chief” kicked off her shoes within minutes of arriving at the University of Mumbai library in the south of the city to join children in a game of educational hop-scotch.
Michelle Obama correctly spelt the name of “America” to advance in the game but nearly came unstuck on the word “happiness” -- but only because she was balanced on one foot at the time.
She then joined the 30 or so children aged eight to 13 as they danced to the theme song from Rang De Basanti by Indian composer AR Rahman.
“I love dancing. Oh that was fun!” the mother-of-two told children before giving a five-minute motivational speech about the importance of education.
“I didn’t grow up with a lot of money,” she told the youngsters. “I never even imagined being the First Lady of the United States. But because I had an education, when the time came to do this, I was ready.” The children are among 2,800 disadvantaged youngsters being helped by the 800 or so volunteers from the “Make a Difference” charity, which works in 10 Indian cities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2010.
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