Senator Christopher Dodd impressed me the moment I met him. I was keen to meet him knowing he was the man to put the nuclear bill on the table. I was expecting to meet someone extremely busy and officious considering his designation and schedule.

Sant Chatwal, who was one of the key people involved in bringing him to India, arranged this meeting so I could be one of the few to meet him one on one. The camaraderie and trust level between these two men was apparent. I was briefed about him by someone from his team before he was scheduled to meet me. I gathered my questions quickly in my mind wondering what queries I should pose to this man.
He arrived with his entourage that consisted of the deputy US counsel, his political adviser and some more people who I was not introduced to. We met, he ordered some coffee and I started off with “So, you are the hero behind the famous nuclear deal that was quite a controversial topic in our country for some time?” When you interview somebody who is globally important, it tells a lot about the person when he makes the people around relax and puts the interviewer at ease. Senator Dodd definitely has this quality.
He talked about how this issue was handed over to him by Senator Hillary Clinton and he realised that it was an issue that had in the past cast a dark shadow. He feels he “put to bed a long overdue issue”. “This treaty was like putting together parents who have been separated.”
He talked about meeting people in the last few days where most of them had American qualifications. The senator has been a strong advocate of better education for America’s children and was honoured as the National Head Start “Senator of the Decade” for his efforts. He worked to make sure that the schools are measured fairly, teachers are treated as professionals and students receive the resources and support that they need to be able to compete in the global economy. “A lot has to be said and done in this field,” he said, referring to how impressed he was that a majority of their foreign students were Indians.
Back to the topic about being made to feel comfortable. He wanted to know everything about both my children Tiara and Rajveer, what their interests were and whether I was keen on sending them to the States for further education.
This man, who had a lunch meeting with the PM whilst in Delhi, clearly has his fingers in a lot of pies. He had to rush back to the States as he was in the midst of passing an important bank reform. “I wish I could stay longer, but next time.” He talked about wanting to visit Punjab, Rajasthan and was very keen to see Kashmir. “I have to go there no matter what,” he said. One could detect in his talks the warmth he felt for India and its culture.
Later that evening as he spoke to my friend Dr Farhad Taraporewala he talked about an idealistic medical world where today the new students that embark on this career will again choose to do so, for the right reasons, and not only for the monetary benefits that this noble profession offers. This is an inadvertent fallout of the curbing effects of the insurance health care policies on the earning potential of the medical professionals.
Senator Dodd talked about the impressive 9.5 percent economic Indian growth. “The United States and India have a lot of commonality,” he said. “One is the largest and the other the oldest democracy in the world. We have to institutionalise this relationship and keep this agenda going,” he said, referring to India as a fascinating country with a warm engaging community. This 66-year-old man with old fashion values but a racy and globally dynamic mind spoke with warmth about his two young daughters aged eight and five and the joys of experiencing fatherhood late in life. He spoke with pride about his blind sister and how she had coped with her handicap through her life. He reminisced about his mother with love and gratitude in his heart. It was easy to see how Dodd has been one of the longest serving senators in the history of the States.