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With Enter Sandman and My Way, Gor sets the tone in his first day in office
Long-time watchers of diplomatic circles said they could not remember any similar event being organised to mark the arrival of an envoy at the US embassy in the past two or three decades
“Act like Elvis just walked in the room” –– this was the exhortation for scores of US embassy employees gathered outside the mission on Monday to greet ambassador-designate Sergio Gor for what would be his first day in office after arriving in India last week.
As the American officials and diplomats and a large media contingent waited under a bright winter sun for some 90 minutes, they were entertained by a playlist of songs that ranged from the classic 1990s heavy metal of Metallica’s Enter Sandman to the schmaltz of the Lionel Richie hit Hello.
The US employees were asked to cheer long before Gor drove into the mission compound in a BMW so that some B-roll footage could be shot for a video on his arrival at the embassy. They came along with detailed instructions from the master of ceremonies on how the employees should make way for the ambassador-designate and walk in behind him as he made his way to the podium positioned near the entrance of the embassy.
Long-time watchers of diplomatic circles said they could not remember any similar event being organised to mark the arrival of an envoy at the US embassy in the past two or three decades. Gor’s predecessors such as Kenneth Juster –– who like Gor was nominated by President Donald Trump in his first term –– and Eric Garcetti, former president Joe Biden’s pick, have opted to quietly assume office and to interact with the media only after they presented their credentials to the Indian President.
For members of the media asked to gather at the embassy between 90 minutes and two hours before Gor’s arrival, there was little to do except listen to the songs blaring from a sound system placed to one side of two massive US flags festooned on either side of the entrance to the embassy.
The playlist was eclectic, ranging from Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain and Johnny Cash’s Ring Of Fire to Frank Sinatra’s My Way, REM’s Losing My Religion and a version of the 1960s classic It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World by James Brown and Luciano Pavarotti.
The track played as Gor emerged from the car that brought him into the mission compound was Sam & Dave’s Hold On, I’m Coming, while Village People’s 1978 smash hit YMCA –– long a favourite at Trump’s rallies –– rounded off the event following Gor’s speech.
