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‘When you interpret for PM Modi, his passion must reflect in your voice’
Updated On: 14 July, 2024 07:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Aastha Atray Banan
The Modi-Putin bromance in Moscow had a critical third angle: Putin’s bespectacled interpreter who spoke fluent Hindi. She inspired us to grab an appointment with Gurdeep Chawla, once a key interpreter in the Indian Parliament, now working in the US
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Gurdeep Chawla sits on the right as US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023. Pics/Getty Images
I was pursuing a Master’s degree in English Literature from St Stephen’s College in 1988 when my sister read in a newspaper that the Indian Parliament was looking for translators. I applied for the position in jest, gave the exam, and got the job. But I was clear that I would work only for a few weeks since I was pursuing an MA degree. I returned to the job after my Master’s degree and was going to resign because my heart was set on cracking the Civil Services exam.
That day, I saw a gentleman sitting with a pair of headsets on his ears, reading a Hindi bulletin and speaking to himself. He told me he was there for a test for an interpreter’s position. I asked him, how can you listen and talk at the same time? He said “Oh, you have to use your brain too.”
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