India’s external affairs minister told a group of American students on Tuesday that his love of music and his upbringing led to his diplomatic career. This is what he told them.
An Indian Global Citizen Year India Fellow, Angel Brian, asked Mr Jaishankar and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “What made you all interested in international relations?” Mr Jaishankar and Secretary of State Blinken were at an event at Howard University when Angel Brian asked them.
“In what way did I start becoming interested in the world? I think part of it was that you were interested in music. You heard music different from yours, and then you wondered what kind of music it was, where it came from, and what kind of people played it, “Mr Jaishankar replied.
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“I think the food part came a long time after. It was easier to buy music and not eat than it was to buy food in the past. Some of it also came from a family that was a little bit from another country, “He said.
“We talk about professional educational exchanges when we say this. My father came to the United States when I was about 10 years old on a Rockefeller Fellowship. He came to study and get some training in the United States. So, again, I think there’s a little bit of parental influence in this, as well,” said so, by the Indian diplomat who was in charge.
In 1959, Mr Jaishankar said he heard the first foreign music album he didn’t know about: The Hitmakers, an album from the US. When he spoke to students at the prestigious Howard University, he said, “I have it on Spotify, and I still listen to it for nostalgia.”
“The 1960s and 1970s may sound like pre-history to you, but they were a time when the world began to become more interconnected. It means there were more tourists, people who thought about going somewhere else and seeing other cultures, so there were more of them, “He said.
“There would be a lot of excitement every time you had something new happen at your school or university. All of those things, I think, “Mr Jaishankar told me.
“If you try many different things, you’ll get to where you are now. As a result of not being very good at any of them, I came to be where I am. You might not know what you want right away, so it’s important to be able to try different things. “His answer was the same.
Mr Blinken said that his grandfather had to flee pogroms in what is now Ukraine back in the early 1900s. “Another stepmother who fled communists in Hungary, and a stepfather who survived concentration camps and was freed by the United States. These and other stories were a big part of it, too, “He told them.
“That’s not the only thing that happened to me at a young age that has something to do with what we’re talking about now. It is like living in another country as an American. When I was nine years old, we moved to France. I moved there with my mom and stepdad, and we lived there for a while, “He said.
From 9 to 18, Mr Blinken lived in France for nine years. Through high school.
“That experience, living in another country, seeing your own country through other people’s eyes and broadening your horizons to a different country and culture. Having a Eurail pass and a few other things back in the day opened up all of Europe to people who lived in France. That had a huge impact, “He said.
“During the 1970s, a lot was going on in the world. When they were in school, they talked about all of these things. Whether the Vietnam War, which was still going on or the Cold War, which was still going on but seemed to be at its peak, all of these things were on the table “, said the Secretary of State of the US.
“People would often act like junior diplomats because America was often in the middle of these things. You’d act like you were trying to defend your country or talk about it with people you didn’t know well. How can we have these kinds of conversations?” Mr Blinken said that.
