Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi interacted with Gen Z NRI students from the UAE in New Delhi on Sunday.
He later shared the conversation on his YouTube channel with the description: "Real questions. Honest answers. No filters."
During the discussion, Rahul spoke about identity, purpose, and the pressures faced by today’s youth. The conversation addressed concerns such as balancing profession and passion, freedom to think and express, and dealing with anxiety and judgement.
Many students shared that they feel anxious about not being confident enough, about being judged, and about not always feeling comfortable speaking out.
A central theme was society’s tendency to define individuals through labels and assumptions. Rahul emphasised that what matters is staying truthful to oneself. "Nothing in life is linear. Be flexible and persevere," he said.
The session began with Rahul addressing the students’ concerns about pursuing a career with passion.
"My advice is do exactly what you feel like doing. It depends on your attitude. If your intention is good, then do whatever you want," Rahul replied.
When asked about his Bharat Jodha Yatra, he shared: "I learned many things in the Yatra. One, I learned that your limit is much more than you think it is. In the Yatra, I also met many people, different people, different ideas. So I feel that everybody has their own journey. And they should be allowed to explore and live that journey. Instead of being told, you are a Hindu, you are a Muslim, you are a Sikh, you are a Christian, everybody should be allowed to think and express themselves and achieve whatever they want to achieve in their life. That's what I learned."
On mindset, he said: "Nothing in life, nothing will go in a straight line. One model is that I want to change the universe. And the other model is the universe is going to give me things, teach me things and I want to accept them. One is a linear model. I am going to do this, then I am going to do this, then I am going to do this, then I am going to do this. The other is a non-linear model. Whatever happens, let's see. So flexibility in my mind and perseverance are the two things that you need. If you are flexible and you don't give up, you will do well. The universe is looking after you, it's protecting you. So you should work with it."
On defining success beyond career achievements, Rahul said: "Success is being comfortable in any situation. Success is navigating your life with love and affection towards other people. I might be the most powerful person. I might be the richest person. But if I don't have respect for people around me or even animals, trees, the whole environment I live in, then that's not success. That's just greed. But you can't succeed without failure."
When a student asked about pursuing personal passions, Rahul shared: "Now suppose you like dancing. And somebody comes to you and says, you know, you really don't dance well. And you think about it and you say, okay, there's some truth in what this person is saying. And then you say to yourself, you know, I'm not going to give up. And then you do it again and you do it again. And then one day you become a very successful dancer."
On values for young Indians, he said: "Truth. And non-violence. Don't be violent towards others. Don't be violent towards yourself. Be truthful towards others and be truthful to yourself. Nothing else is required."
A student, Habiba from Gulf Asian English School, Sharjah, asked about advice for public speaking.
On caring for everyone equally, he said: "Many people, after they get the authority of power, they'd often tend to ignore the lower people. But you are a person who goes to the poor, even the truck drivers, even the rural people. Like you care for everyone as they're your family. Because I don't have a concept of high or low. So I don't see it like that."
Habiba also asked about the meaning of “honour,” which Rahul often used during the session: "Like you said it three times. It's an honour. That honoured me. This opportunity is not given to many people. No, because I have a problem with the word. Because honour assumes that I'm special and you're less special. It's not like that. It is as much of an honour for me to meet you as it is for you to meet me. But one-sided honour, I don't like."
