From left, Veena Merchant, editor-in-chief of News India-Times and Capitol Debates’ Host; Dino Teppara, attorney and senior legislative assistant to Rep. Joe Wilson; Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-NJ); and Vij Pawar, attorney and Democrat who also ran for elections. (Photo: Courtesy, TV Asia)

VEENA MERCHANT: Tell me the Indian American story. Let me tell you what I found very interesting a New York Times headline, ‘Love him or Hate him, All Vie for a Good Perch.’ What kind of perch did the Indian American community have?

DINO TEPPARA: It was interesting. Almost every event that I went to during the inaugural week, I saw South Asians there. At the presidential inaugural ball I was a volunteer there, at the MCI Center event where they honor the military forces, the Embassy of India did an inaugural reception.

MERCHANT: In those nine balls, was there any specific one where there were more Indian Americans or was there any specifically for ethnic and Asian-Pacific Islanders?

TEPPARA: The nine presidential balls were divided by state. Depending on what state you live you went to that particular ball. I saw a couple of Indian American women wearing sarees at the events.

MERCHANT: But how many Indian Americans were there on the Hill for those two or three days?

TEPPARA: It is really hard to estimate. I think from several dozen to potentially 100. I ran into people I knew.

MERCHANT: Isn’t there an official list you can refer to?

TEPPARA: No. At the ball there are 50,000 people at the convention center. I was at one specific entrance as a volunteer and I saw people come in.

MERCHANT: Okay I have another question. This is my Bible, The New York Times. I always read it. ‘For deep pocket givers, crystal and candlelight.’ I will read you another para. “After giving hundred thousand to the presidential inaugural committee and raising three times that for the Republican Party in November elections’ and then goes on about a particular person. “Coming on the heels of the most expensive elections ever the inauguration drew hundreds of Republican party’s largest donors and fund-raisers to Washington armed with pocketful of exclusive passes and tickets they spent days capitalizing on their contributions.’’ Where did the Indian American community figure here in terms of what kind of ringside seats they had? Give me the details.

TEPPARA: On the inauguration day, we had free Congressional tickets from the Congressional office. We had Indian Americans going to that. We had the ball tickets. Those were high donor events. We actually had the Indian American rangers and pioneers who had campaigned to attend the event.

MERCHANT: Who are the rangers?

TEPPARA: Dr. Zach, Dr. Vijay, Gaikwad. But if one has connections one can get tickets. I also got two tickets and I am not a donor.

MERCHANT: What kind of connections teach us?

TEPPARA: For most events there are donors and they get a list of invites but if you are someone who is cost-conscious, you can do a lot of nice events without having to spend a lot of money at the inauguration. For example, the parade, the inauguration, those are all free events; there are certain embassy events that are free as well. There is a mix.

MERCHANT: How about the demonstrators, how many were there?

TEPPARA: I am not sure how many were there. I was disappointed to see them trying to disrupt the president’s speech.

MERCHANT: But don’t you think that is part of democracy, Dino?

TEPPARA: The issue is not whether they can but whether they should. You should show respect for the office of the president in my opinion.

MERCHANT: That I think you are right. Upendra, I am sure you have a comment about this.

UPENDRA CHIVUKULA: It was the President’s Day and he should have been extended the courtesy of finishing his speech.

PAWAR: I agree and disagree. I agree that the president should not have been interrupted by hecklers out of respect. He is the president of the United States of America whether we agree with him or disagree with him.

But at the same time I feel demonstrations are needed. It is for the process. Forty seven-48 percent of the people did not vote for him. They have a right to voice their opinion. They have every right to demonstrate on inauguration day.

MERCHANT: Did you hear of any Indian American group at the demonstration?

TEPPARA: I didn’t hear of any. The issue is again not of whether we can but whether we should have.

MERCHANT: Were there any Indian American Democrats at the inauguration?

TEPPARA: Not very many. Democrats have been saying they want to be bipartisan and work together on issues but a lot of Congressional Democrats didn’t attend any Congressional lunches or dinners at the inauguration.

MERCHANT: I think all of us must agree today this is time for governance. We have to forget about campaigns. I don’t expect you people to give up your party positions but let us try and look into situations which have a deeper, more philosophical meaning. specific to Indian American community as such.

CHIVUKULA: I agree with you Veena. We have four years and the country has many challenges and we have to rally and come together on issues that are important to all the taxpayers in the United States.

MERCHANT: I want general comments about what the president said during the inaugural address.

CHIVUKULA: I think the president’s comments about freedom, homeland security issues, and trying to spread freedom in the Middle East and China, we should not be mistaken that we can accomplish that in the next four years. It is a long, long process. The point I am making is not a partisan comment.

MERCHANT: I may disagree with you here Upendra. I think inaugural addresses are meant to be inspiring and I was very inspired. I don’t know how you feel.

PAWAR: They are supposed to be inspiring but at the same time they are meant to lay out the goals, vision for the next four years and I think it was really lacking in substance.

The only thing that I got out of it was that we like freedom. We agree everybody likes freedom but how do you go about it, what do you do, what do you want to accomplish in the next four years?

TEPPARA: The purpose of the inaugural speech is like you said to inspire people and Mr. Bush inspired most like Abraham Lincoln. If you read Abraham Lincoln’s speeches they are so inspirational.

MERCHANT: I must get my last word in. The speech was inspiring but I also thought that it was really liberal.

(Transcribed by Bhavna Kaul)