After watching Barack Obama make his victory speech, many of us asked: when was the last time we heard an inspirational public speech by an Indian? No doubt there have been, and still are, some great speakers in the regional languages, but I really can’t remember the last time I heard a great pan-Indian speech. Jawaharlal Nehru’s ‘Tryst with destiny’ masterpiece at the stroke of the midnight hour? But that was in 1947 when most of us weren’t born. In my lifetime, a part of which has been spent following Indian politicians around and covering their speeches, there have been far too many who inspire nothing beyond deadening boredom. The few good public speakers are Atal Behari Vajpayee, Laloo Prasad Yadav and Narendra Modi. Love them or hate them, if you will, but these guys can get you to pay attention to what they have to say.