‘Interview on the day Emergency was revoked’: EAM Jaishankar recalls UPSC journey – Here’s what he was asked | India News
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‘Interview on the day Emergency was revoked’: EAM Jaishankar recalls UPSC journey – Here’s what he was asked
S Jaishankar’s UPSC interview took place on March 21, 1977. That was the day the Emergency was officially lifted. He was asked about the historic election result. “I forgot I was in an interview”, and at that moment, “my communication skills somehow came together,” he said. About a month ago, the PM Modi government commemorated 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, holding events to highlight what it described as a “dark chapter” in India’s democratic history.
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“My interview was on March 21, 1977. That was the day the Emergency was revoked. Revoked! So, I go in for an interview at Shahjahan Road… First person that morning,” PTI quoted Jaishankar as saying at an event.
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During his interview, he was asked about the historic election result. In that moment, Jaishankar, who was then 22, recalled, his passion took over. “We had taken part in the 1977 election campaign. We had all gone there and worked for the defeat of the Emergency,” he said, adding, “I forgot I was in an interview”, and at that moment, “my communication skills somehow came together.”
Jaishankar’s two key lessons
The experience, he said, left him with two lasting impressions. First, the importance of clear and tactful communication under pressure, explaining political shifts to interviewers who may have been sympathetic to the establishment, without offending them. Second, he realized how even well-informed individuals in power could be disconnected from the public mood, terming it “Lutyens’ bubble”.
“These people were really shocked, they could not believe that this election result had happened, whereas for us, the ordinary students, we could see that there was a wave against the Emergency,” he recalled.
“How do you persuade, how do you explain. This was one carry-away. The second carry-away was that important people may be living in a bubble and not realising what is happening in the country,” he said.
About a month ago, the PM Modi government commemorated 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, holding events to highlight what it described as a “dark chapter” in India’s democratic history. The Emergency, which lasted 21 months, began on June 25, 1975, and ended on March 21, 1977.