8.30 pm: MSNBC and Fox call Ohio for Obama; now it is looking really good! The line is not moving at all. Meanwhile, McCain supporters can be seen on the first floor of the Chicago Hilton, looking down on the queue snaking along Michigan Avenue. They sure had the audacity of hope, setting up a party room overlooking Obama's victory (or defeat) rally!
As the line snakes its way into Grant Park, it disintegrates into unstructured chaos, because it turns out that there are thousands of people without tickets who are standing in the same line as those with tickets!
9:25 pm: Racing past a line of Chicago cops on horses, we finally make it into the park, the venue of the rally! We are standing in a sea of humanity, with people standing cheek by jowl. The stage is barely visible, but a gigantic screen is showing the results.
All around us, there are people of all shapes, sizes and colours, a veritable kaleidoscope of a diverse America: Blacks and whites, Latinos and Indian Americans. In between news updates on the screen, music echoes in every corner of the park, including the blues number which is Chicago's city anthem, Sweet Home, Chicago.
10 pm: CNN calls the election for Obama. The crowd goes wild, and cheers hysterically. Grown-ups jump up and down in the air like children.
Many Indian Americans have played key roles in the Obama campaign. Mridu Sekhar, the generous donor of our Obama rally tickets, is away volunteering in the Tampa Bay area in Florida and misses a chance to celebrate the victory which she helped make a reality. She was a deputy field organiser for the Hispanic community in Tampa, and also spread the word about Obama at community events like Diwali and Eid gatherings.
11 pm: Obama comes to the podium and the crowd goes wild. The words of an orator without peer, who can only be compared with the likes of John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and yes -- even Reverend King -- echoes against the canyons of Chicago skyscrapers surrounding Grant Park.
Image: The night of November 4 was a beautiful Indian summer evening in Chicago, no clouds in the sky, with temperatures in the 60s.
Also see: The Man Who Wasn't There
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