The Return of the Messiah

Thursday, Apr. 5, 2001 What does a young, out-of-work, former President of the United States of America do with his life?

He takes up charitable causes that keep him in the news and allow him to travel -- with other people paying the bills, of course.

This week Bill Clinton visited India to tour the Gujarat area, devastated by the January 26 earthquake. In an article he wrote for the Times of India, the former President said the purpose of his trip was to "tour the affected areas, to meet with families and relief agencies, and to bring new attention to the challenge of reconstruction that remains."

More than two months have passed since the killer earthquake struck, claiming upwards of 20,000 victims. But despite the sheer enormity of the tragedy, the outside world has moved on, as has the media, and reconstruction efforts have slowed. Bringing Bill Clinton to India, though, has put the innocent victims back on the front pages.

Walking down the lane on Wednesday where nearly 200 school children were crushed while on a Republic Day parade the morning of the quake, Clinton played his part to perfection. Overwhelmed and clearly looking shocked at the extent of the damage, he spoke gently to families who had lost loved ones. He left saying that it was all so awful, he did not feel like eating.

Bill Clinton was invited to India as the head of a delegation of rich and successful American Indians. The American India Foundation was set up to help rehabilitation efforts in Gujarat, and aims to eventually launch other social and community development projects all over India. (Money raised at several recent fund-raisers in the U.S. -- attended by Clinton -- has been handed to NGOs working in Gujarat.)

India, it seems, hold a special place in Clinton's heart. In his Times of India article, he explained that of the more than 100 countries he had visited as President, none "meant as much" as his trip to India in March last year.

And what a spectacular trip that was. India had never seen anything like it; someone "great" was coming to town and everyone knew it. There was a frenzy of flower planting, road mending and general sprucing up, and wide-eyed villagers talked about a powerful king from a distant land called Kwintol. The nation's newspapers also wrote reams on their hopes and expectations. And when the "king" did arrive, no one was disappointed. Venerable members of Parliament jostled each other to shake his hand; people squabbled over invitations; and ministers, CEOs, and important business leaders all lined up in attention.

One year on and Clinton is back -- but this time things could not have been more different. For one, Clinton is no longer President. (The American embassy, which told TIME it did not keep track of private visits by their citizens, stumbled a bit when using the term "Mr." after eight years.) The Indians are even more anxious: there is a new God in Washington, and they do not want to displease him. And yet, there is still much love for the man that warmed Indo-U.S. ties after decades of Cold War. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will invite his friend to dinner later this week, but there will be no state banquets, or great speeches from the Big Man. (Jaswant Singh, India's Foreign Minister and Clinton's old pal, ducked out of the country several days ago to visit Stockholm then Washington.)

Clinton, though, is likely to see a little more of the real India now that the shrouds that covered the urban rot during his last visit have been pulled down.