‘Proud my grandmother, father died while defending something’: Rahul Gandhi tells historian Dipesh Chakrabarty

In a virtual conversation with Dipesh Chakrabarty, professor of history at the University of Chicago, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi remarked that, “If you were to ask me why I would think of joining politics 15-20 years ago, my answer would be very different from what it would be today”.

“As I've gone further in this journey, those ideas are crystallizing more. As I go further, there is battle of ideas going on. As the other ideas attack me, it helps me refine myself. Trolls sharpen my sense of what I have to do. They are almost like a guide to me, they tell me where I have to go & what I've to stand for. It's an evolution,” he said.

“I'm proud that my grandmother & father got killed while standing & defending something. It helps me understand them & my place & what I should be doing. There are no regrets,” he said.

Dipesh Chakrabarty is an author and acclaimed historian who has also made contributions to postcolonial theory and subaltern studies. He is the Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in history at the University of Chicago, and is the recipient of the 2014 Toynbee Prize, named for Professor Arnold J. Toynbee, that recognizes social scientists for significant academic and public contributions to humanity.

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