I am on a 3 week program, International Visitor Leadership Program, organised by US, meeting the social entrepreneurs and innovators of the state. The program covers Washington DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Portland and Atlanta.
Not a good start of the day since I forgot to adjust my room clock according to the daylight savings time which started at 2 am on March 10th. While the entire country was springing forward, I was sleeping in my fluffy bed. I didn’t realize until I went for my breakfast to find that all my co-participants were done and ready to leave. The car, a spacious 7 seater limousine with disco lights on the ceiling, was waiting outside to take us on the city tour. Our program officer, Mr. Serge Bulds, was repeatedly reminding us that we were late. I grabbed a toast, gulped down some orange juice and ran to the car.
The tour started with the St. John’s Church on the Lafayette Square,
located across the White House. Since many Presidents, starting from James
Madison, have worshipped at this church, it is often called the President’s
Church. Walking past the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park,
referred to as the President’s Park, Lisa revealed to us that the statue of
French General Marquis De Lafayette, in whose honor the park is named, was
shifted to the south-east corner of the park after the relations with France
got worse at some point in history. Many more such nuggets of interesting
information were to come throughout our tour and that is really what made this
tour memorable. The history of White House – when was it built, what was its
color before it became ‘white house’, how it got its name, who lives there,
where is oval office, and what will happen if you jump over the fence into the
White House garden, etc. – was shared with us. Lot is there on wiki, so I’m tempted
to skip this part. What was interesting was a small tent kind of structure,
with posters of demonstrations, in front of the White House. While the
presidents and the political scene keep on changing, this tent always remains
there. Concepcion Picciotto, known as ‘the little giant’ is an activist for the
world peace. Once she put up an image of George W. Bush with a long beard to
make it look like Osama Bin Laden with the title – ‘The Real Teorrist’. ‘You
will be immediately thrown out if you protest against the head of the state in
front of his home. But this is not the case here, we really value the freedom
of speech enshrined in our constitution,’ explained Lisa proudly.
Not a good start of the day since I forgot to adjust my room clock according to the daylight savings time which started at 2 am on March 10th. While the entire country was springing forward, I was sleeping in my fluffy bed. I didn’t realize until I went for my breakfast to find that all my co-participants were done and ready to leave. The car, a spacious 7 seater limousine with disco lights on the ceiling, was waiting outside to take us on the city tour. Our program officer, Mr. Serge Bulds, was repeatedly reminding us that we were late. I grabbed a toast, gulped down some orange juice and ran to the car.
A bright sunny day with a hint of winter in the air had brought
smiles on all the faces. After blizzard on Wednesday, the sun was more than
welcomed by the people of Washington DC. And a sunny smile was there on the
face of our tour director, Ms. Lisa Damico. A gorgeous lady in red overcoat,
Lisa exuded the enthusiasm of a person who is taking a tourist group around the
city for the first time though we knew it has been her routine job. Lisa works
with John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts and lives in Virginia and
crosses the Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River every day to come to her
office in Washington DC.
The tour started with the St. John’s Church on the Lafayette Square,
located across the White House. Since many Presidents, starting from James
Madison, have worshipped at this church, it is often called the President’s
Church. Walking past the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park,
referred to as the President’s Park, Lisa revealed to us that the statue of
French General Marquis De Lafayette, in whose honor the park is named, was
shifted to the south-east corner of the park after the relations with France
got worse at some point in history. Many more such nuggets of interesting
information were to come throughout our tour and that is really what made this
tour memorable. The history of White House – when was it built, what was its
color before it became ‘white house’, how it got its name, who lives there,
where is oval office, and what will happen if you jump over the fence into the
White House garden, etc. – was shared with us. Lot is there on wiki, so I’m tempted
to skip this part. What was interesting was a small tent kind of structure,
with posters of demonstrations, in front of the White House. While the
presidents and the political scene keep on changing, this tent always remains
there. Concepcion Picciotto, known as ‘the little giant’ is an activist for the
world peace. Once she put up an image of George W. Bush with a long beard to
make it look like Osama Bin Laden with the title – ‘The Real Teorrist’. ‘You
will be immediately thrown out if you protest against the head of the state in
front of his home. But this is not the case here, we really value the freedom
of speech enshrined in our constitution,’ explained Lisa proudly.
The Willard Hotel was the next stop. What makes this hotel famous
and hence worth a visit, is the list of the famous guests who have frequented
this hotel. Many presidents of US, Mark Twain, Samuel Morse, Charles Dickens,
and Emily Dickinson are some of them. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a portion of
his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech in this hotel. Ulysses S. Grant, the former
president, not allowed by his wife to smoke or drink at the White House, used
to come to the hotel’s bar to smoke cigars and drink whiskey. Knowing his
habit, people often came to see him at the hotel to seek favours and used to
wait in the lobby. This probably is the origin of the term ‘lobbying’. In the
bar, there is a framed picture of Abraham Lincoln without a beard, a rare
thing.
 |
Then we took the road to the Capitol Building and spent some time
clicking in front of the building after Lisa explained to us the Federal system
of government. Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was next on the list. Two big white
rocks of despair and hope cutting right across the rocks, the signs of struggle
visible where the hope has rubbed its shoulder against the rock. An amazing
piece of architecture, with a big statue of determined Martin Luther King Jr.
and many quotes by him written on the walls, made us gape in wonder. However
the controversy that the statue is done by a Chinese sculptor and that too in
China actually made us laugh. Then we walked to Lincoln memorial – the temple
of democracy – located on the National Mall (national park). After seeing the
movie ‘Lincoln’, I was craving to ‘meet’ him. Some interesting sculptural features
that Lisa asked us to observe were – the clenched left fist and the firm left
foot of the statue which show the determination and resoluteness of Lincoln, while
the relaxed right palm and the forward right foot show his openness to embrace the
southern states in the union. The famous Gettysberg address punched into the
rock for generations to read and admire the blood and sweat the founding
fathers and generations dedicated to the building of this nation.
 | |||
| Lisa, our tour guide on the extreme left |
The tour ended on a little sad note when we visited the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial with the names of 58195 names of the American soldiers, missing or
dead, written on the big running dark wall. The architecture was simple yet thoughtful,
and reminder of the casualties of the war.
A bright sunny day, a city of architectural wonders, a neat and
clean and now a healthy city, a city of delight – made our day rejuvenating. We
bade farewell to Lisa, thanking her profusely for the wonderful tour she
conducted. Now we are waiting to meet Mr. Akram Elias, president and CEO of Capital
Communications Group in the afternoon.
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