Congress President Rahul Gandhi surprises young professionals

Life is full of surprises... 10 days ago I received a message asking if I would be keen to meet Congress President Mr Rahul Gandhi, as part of an interaction with select group of political enthusiasts/ social media influencers.

Well, it’s not every day that one gets a chance to interact with the leader of the principal opposition Party...so without batting an eyelid I confirmed my participation. Earlier this week the meeting/interaction happened and while am not at liberty to share the contents of the discussion, it surely gave quite a few of us insights into Rahul Gandhi's thought process and style of functioning....

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 4.30 pm and Rahul did not make us wait... no wasting of time either on introductions, speeches etc. We were asked to "shoot" and thus kick-started an interesting 90 minutes conversation.

Everyone had a view on the state of affairs of our country and Rahul gave each one of us a patient hearing. Quite a few of those present, expressed their views on RSS (quite critical views) and its work. After listening to them for a while, I got up and said "I have a different take on RSS. "

Before I gave my take, I first told Rahul that " I have never voted for Congress in any election so far.... " I also told him straight that I am a Vajpayee fan, that I have RSS friends and I continue to donate to some of the good social work that RSS does. To my surprise, Rahul did not look at me with derisiveness or contempt but rather smiled at me. That gave me the confidence to share my frank views on the RSS with Rahul and those present in the room...

Several contemporary issues/points were discussed. Most of us 20-30 odd group, got to slip in their take and almost all of us got a response from Rahul. It wasn't a Q&A but more like a board-room discussion, with Rahul constantly interjecting with his opinion and then encouraging a back and forth.

At times he threw a counter question at us... I found him attentive, sharp & focused. Anyone who aspires to be a national leader, needs to have a 'worldview' and Rahul clearly had one... he took us through the same in the 90 minutes we spent with him.

After an hour or so, when an issue on which I had expressed an opinion earlier in the meeting, once again came up for discussion, Rahul turned to me and asked my take. To me this goes to show how as a leader he might take decisions... this interaction gave a solid insight into the same. Something else that took me by surprise - quite a few of us addressed him by his first name ' Rahul' and he absolutely did not seem to mind.

Finally, something very minor and that might have escaped the attention of most, was a moment right at the beginning of the meeting. In my earlier avatar as a TV journalist, I have interviewed many CEOs/ CFOs and a few of them would not show the basic courtesy of offering the journalist/guest even a glass of water. Therefore, it felt good when the moment he entered the room, Rahul asked us - " Can I get you'll a cup of tea?"

The meeting ended with Rahul smiling & posing for individual photographs with us.

Based on what I observed in those 90 minutes, this is how I would describe Rahul - Refreshingly candid, engaging, spontaneous and courteous. Before being a great leader, one should first be a nice human being... Rahul seemed to be one. A regular guy with whom you would want to hang out over a drink (although I am a teetotaller) ! The media paints caricatures of politicians ... it has about Rahul as well. I found him to be a very different person from that caricature ...

(Taken from the author’s Facebook wall)

A CA and a former Business journalist with CNBC TV18 and Bloomberg, Arun Giri is editor at taxsutra.com