Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils a statue for Mahatma Gandhi in Brisbane. Photo: Tony Moore
Hundreds of them screamed "Modi, Modi, Modi" as they waited, lined five, six, seven deep along Brisbane's Wickham Terrace.
"Modi, Modi, Modi".
Some at G20 will talk of Barack Obama's speeches in Brisbane and his ability to captivate an audience.
Crowds gather to see Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveil a statue for Mahatma Gandhi in Brisbane. Photo: Tony Moore
But, for Indians and of for many others, India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a clear rival.
Even in terms of Twitter followers.
Narendra Modi has been India's prime minister only since May and his visit was the first to Brisbane by an Indian PM in 28 years.
The excitement among the city's Indian community - now about 80,000 strong - was obvious.
It was something like Beatlemania as Mr Modi unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mr Modi, 64, stopped his car ahead of the official meeting at the Roma Street Parklands and walked among those calling his name on the outside of the fence.
"He is the one that is giving us the change. He is the change," one supporter named Vijay said.
"He is our Barack Obama. He is our rock star prime minister."
"Modi, Modi, Modi," the crowd shouted again.
"Gandhi is a world leader, not only in India. He is spreading the word of peace everywhere," Vijay said.
"So I think this is a good symbol for Modi to come and unveil it for us."
Mr Modi's official speech dealt with two issues: climate change and Gandhi's legacy in contemporary society.
Master of Ceremonies Jim Varghese introduced Mr Modi as "the man of the moment, the man of the millennium."
Mr Modi - a staunch follower of Gandhi - spoke in Hindi, which was translated into English.
He remembers his youth selling tea at an Indian railway station with his father.
While Mr Obama will be considered as opening the door to climate change issues at G20, Mr Modi did not miss his opportunity.
He said Gandhi's life gave inspiration to solving global warming.
"Today the world is concerned about global warming, terrorism and extremism," he said.
"At the heart of global warming is the philosophy of exploitation.
"For centuries, we have plundered Mother Nature and we have destroyed it."
He said Gandhi respected nature all his life.
"If we hadn't exploited Mother Nature the way that we have done, and we had only used to the extent that Mahatma Gandhi had preached, then we would not be faced with these problems today."
Mr Modi said Gandhi's legacy was for contemporary and future generations.
"I firmly believe that Mahatma Gandhi is for the world today as relevant as he was during his lifetime," he said.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk gave one of his best speeches, blending the mood of the weekend, with the legacy of Gandhi to loud applause.
"As we draw the G20 Summit to a close, I look back over the past two days and I see a summit, - the first time ever - which is a summit which has not seen violence in any way in the streets," Cr Quirk said.
"I see a summit where democracy has been played out, where people have had their opportunity to express their message, to have their point of view heard by way of protest.
"But (they) have done that in very peaceful means.
"And I say that if the great man, Mahatma Gandhi, was here today to see this, he would be extremely proud and pleased with what he has seen in the last two days."
The statue, by Indian sculptors Ram and Anil Sutar shows Gandhi in his familiar "common man's" cotton clothing, in a walking pose.
The clothes themselves were a form of protest. Gandhi would hand weave the cotton to make the clothes to protest colonial Britain's decision to send Indian cotton to England.
England would then send it back to India at a higher price.It self-started India's next generation, hand-spun cotton industry.
A bridge at Springfield will also be named the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Bridge in January and a walk between Springfield and Brisbane - in the spirit of Gandhi's long marches - will begin in 2015.
Gandhi's statue was commissioned by a group of Indian community representatives after being requested by Mr Modi three years ago.
Springfield developer Maha Sinnathamby - a Hindu man born in Malaysia who came to Australia and arrived in Australia by boat - is one of the business people to support the commissioning of the statue.
"The bridge is in the Robelle Domain," Mr Sinnathamby said.
"It will be there for perpetuity," he said.
Mr Sinnathamby said Mahatma Ghandi's legacy should be reconsidered by contemporary planners.
"There is no person in human history who has changed the course of history with no money, no army and with no family connections. Just with his bare hands."
"If you had sold all of Gandhi's possessions , you might have got $3."
While 300 or 400 people lined Wickham Terrace to meet Mr Modi, about 150 invited guest listened to speeches, including a historical speech from Queensland's Governor Paul de Jersey.
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