Barack Obama paints a room at Sasha Bruce House, an emergency shelter for teens in Washington, on Monday. (Reuters)

Washington, Jan. 19: Barack Obama spent the eve of his swearing-in as America’s 44th President reliving Mahatma Gandhi’s ideal of shramdaan, occasioned by Martin Luther King Jr. Day today.

Hundreds of thousands of people offered shramdaan all across America responding to Obama’s call in December that Martin Luther King’s legacy should be honoured today as “not a day just to pause and reflect — it is a day to act”.

Obama went to a shelter in Washington for homeless teens, rolled up his sleeves, climbed on a step-ladder and started painting the shelter blue. He then fixed curtains at the shelter.

His wife, Michelle, accompanied by Jill Biden, wife of vice-president-elect Joe Biden, offered service at a volunteer project at RKF Stadium here.

Joe Biden showed up at a school in the national capital, hoping to inspire students to do community service.

The day began with a statement by Obama that “today, ordinary citizens will gather together all across the country to participate in the more than 11,000 service projects they have created.… And I ask the American people to turn today’s efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country”.

The government agency that was tasked with organising community service projects said the number of such projects had grown to 12,100 since Obama was briefed by his aides about today’s shramdaan efforts.

Martin Luther King Day is observed on the third Monday of January to mark his birthday on January 15. This year it has fallen on the eve of Obama’s inauguration.

Martin Luther King Jr., the black civil rights leader, was assassinated in 1968 when Obama was just about seven years old. But the President-elect has often cited King as one of those who inspired him. King, on the other hand, has said that Mahatma Gandhi was a major influence on his life.

Obama has also said that The Story of My Experiments with Truth, the Mahatma’s autobiography, greatly influenced his thinking.

By a coincidence, a few days before this year’s Martin Luther King Day, researchers in India rediscovered an electrifying message that King had taped for All India Radio at the conclusion of his visit to India in 1959. The message underscored the black civil rights leader’s intellectual debt to Mahatma Gandhi and foreshadowed King’s own commitment to later pursue the path of non-violence for gaining civil rights for America’s black people.

Tonight, All India Radio broadcast that recording during prime time. “Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity,” King said in that broadcast to the Indian people.

It has been announced here that the very first diplomatic initiative with India jointly organised by the incoming Obama administration and the new Democratic-majority US Congress will be a delegation next month to mark the 50th anniversary of King’s visit to India.

The US state department to be headed by Hillary Clinton will “support February 2009 celebrations in India to commemorate the tour by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 50 years ago to study Mahatma Gandhi. This tour deeply influenced the American civil rights movement,” a media release here said.

The delegation will include Martin Luther King III, son of the slain leader, and US Congressman John Lewis, who was the youngest speaker at the 1963 Washington rally where King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

The delegation to India next month will include legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock, who will take part in a special tribute in Chennai on the theme of non-violence along with composer A.R. Rahman and actor and director Kamal Haasan.