Washington, June 20: US President Barack Obama can cook keema and da’– and cook well! He is a fan of Cricket– but terrible with bats!
These little known secrets about Obama were revealed during his interview to Dawn television of Pakistan where he reflected upon his acquaintance with the South Asian culture.
“As you know, I had Pakistani roommates in college who were very close friends of mine. I went to visit them when I was still in college, was in Karachi and went to Hyderabad. Their mothers taught me to cook,” Obama said.
When asked what he can cook, Obama said, “Keema and Dal and….You name it, I can cook it”.
It doesn’t stop at that, though.
The US president further revealed that he is an admirer of great cricket players, but doesn’t know how to bat despite making several attempts.
“You know, I have to say that I have tried to get up to bat a couple of times, but I’ve been terrible,” Obama said in response to a question.
“So I am an admirer of great cricket players, but make no claims in terms of my own skills,” Obama said.
Obama said that he also has an affinity for great Urdu poets. “I have a great affinity for Pakistani culture and the great Urdu poets. My hope is that I’m going to have an opportunity at some point to visit Pakistan,” he said.
One of the things that tie the two countries together, he said, is the “extraordinary Pakistani-American community that is here in the US who are thriving and doing great work as physicians and as lawyers and as business people”.
He said that one of the great opportunities for the country is to be able to draw on all this talent to help provide concrete benefits to the Pakistani people.
“That’s one of the biggest challenges for Pakistan,” he said.
“We want to be a partner in opening up trade opportunities, but making sure that people on the ground. Are getting education, children are going to school, farmers are able to get a decent compensation for their products, electricity and infrastructure is built, because I know the Pakistani people and I know that if the tools are made available to them, then they will thrive and continue to be a great nation,” Obama said.
—–PTI