External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar recently took a trip down memory lane, sharing a personal story with a fresh batch of civil service entrants in Delhi. He shared that his UPSC interview happened on 21 March 1977, a date that also marked the official end of the Emergency in India.

‘The interview taught me two key \lessons’

Talking about his experience, Jaishankar said the interview taught him two lasting lessons:

“How to communicate well under pressure,” and “That influential people often live in their own ‘bubble,’ disconnected from reality.”

Speaking at the event, Jaishankar described the interview stage as the most challenging part of the UPSC exams, calling it an “Agni Pariksha”, a true test of one's character and ability.

“(1977) Election results were coming from the previous day... The sense of the defeat of the Emergency rule was coming into understanding. In a way, that is what got me through the interview,” Jaishankar told PTI.

He shared that he was the first candidate of the day to appear for the interview, held at Shahjahan Road in Delhi, nearly 48 years ago. The atmosphere at the time was politically charged, as India was just emerging from a 21-month-long Emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June 1975.

‘We campaigned against The Emergency’

As a student of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jaishankar was actively involved in the political movement of the time.

“We had taken part in the 1977 election campaign. We had all gone there and worked for the defeat of the Emergency,” he said.

According to him, this direct involvement in political activities gave him the right perspective and preparation for questions asked during the interview.

The External Affairs Minister also said that the interview experience introduced him to the concept of what is now referred to as the “Lutyens’ bubble”, a term often used to describe the disconnection of elite policymakers from the ground realities faced by common citizens.



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