Bush wins votes but Kerry wins hearts

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: George Bush has pipped John Kerry to the post of US Prez. We don''t want to get into the realpolitik of it all, but Indians at large aren''t certainly happy with what has happened to the Candidate-with-his-heart-in-the-right-place, John Kerry!<br /><br />Says fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, who has just opened a designer mall in the upmarket Defence Colony, "I am disappointed.I was all for Kerry''s win. I think Bush was a very retarded President. Have you watched the film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Fahrenheit 9/11</span>? It has a lot to say about Prez Bush", said Tahiliani.<br /><br />Ritu Kumar has "mixed" feelings about Bush''s second visit to the White House. "I am not sure that the best thing has happened. But then Bush''s India policy is not so bad either and we have to live with him another term" quipped Kumar.<br /><br />But many Indians have not forgotten 9/11 or forgiven Bush for it. Priya Kochhar, who heads a PR firm in the capital, is still bitter. "I will not forget that horrific moment. My best friend lost her Dad in the September 11 attack. I don''t know how America forgave Bush", she laments. <br /><br />Says Ashwini Nachappa, former Olympian and national athlete, "I really hope that this term will not be as turbulent as the previous one. But we have to accept that it was the people''s verdict and we must respect the same", she said from Bangalore.<br /><br />For some, not being able to find Osama bin Laden was Bush''s biggest failure. "He doesn''t rule with his heart. But Americans like him because he is tough, uncompromising and dislikes all things which are non-American. Kerry might have been friendlier to the Third world", muses Radhika Gupta, a media-planner in an ad agency. <br /><br />Her feelings are echoed by the P Subramaniam from Mumbai, "I believe Bush has an aggressive personality and encourages war. I feel Kerry is firm and India would have benefited from his win."<br /><br />However, some Indians are keeping their fingers crossed that India will benefit from the BPO boom. "His triumph could be beneficial for countries like India which highly rely on outsourced jobs. It was one of his policies to encourage outsourcing. Kerry probably only wants blue-collared people to rise", said Ashar Hussain Khan, an NRI, now visiting Mumbai.<br /><br />Yusuf Arakkal, international sculptor and Akademi award winner, agrees. "For me it would not make any difference whether it is Bush or Kerry at the White House. If Kerry had come, then there was some threat for the outsourcing industry which would have affected India in particular. The US foreign policy is unlikely to change now", he said from Bangalore.<br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(Nandini Guha with inputs from Ekta Sharma(Mumbai) and Simon Varghese(Bangalore))</span><br />But then, luck has always favoured US Presidents twice and America is giving Bush a second chance. As for Kerry, India is watching him with baited breath and the possibilities are endless!</div> </div>