A t about 15 minutes to nine, a limo drew up bearing External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, followed by senior members of Dr Manmohan Singh's delegation – Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan; the prime minister's principal secretary T K A Nair; National Security Adviser M K Narayanan; Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen; Secretary, Department of Science and Technology V S Ramamurthy; Secretary, Department of Space Dr G Madhavan Nair; Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy Dr Anil Kakodkar; and Dr Sanjaya Baru, Dr Singh's media adviser, among others.
At about ten minutes to nine, senior members of the Bush Cabinet appeared -- Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld among others.
At five minutes to nine, the American president and the first lady emerged.
At nine, a huge limousine with Dr Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur -- dressed in a cream sari; at Andrews she had worn a blue salwar-kameez -- drew up to the porch of the White House.
As the two leaders ascended the podium, the guns boomed to the strains of the Indian national anthem.
After the American national anthem was played, Dr Singh, accompanied by Bush, inspected the guard of honour as the band played a variety of legendary American martial tunes, including a personal favourite of mine, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
As the soldiers marched off the lawns, Bush greeted Singh in a 2 minute, 27 second speech. For a man often criticized and made fun of for his awkward delivery, Bush spoke with impressive oratorical authority.
By 0925, the welcome ceremony was over; the leaders and their wives made their way to the first floor of the White House for a final wave before they went inside.
It took some time before the crowds dispersed. Many of them seemed overwhelmed by what they had just seen.
I know the feeling.
Also See: PM Bush Press Conference