synopsis
During his lecture, Rahul Gandhi focussed at the prestigious University of Cambridge on the "art of listening" and called for new thinking to promote a democratic environment globally, as opposed to a coercive one.
Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi recounted his Bharat Jodo Yatra in his speech at Cambridge University and narrated snippets of his experience that changed him as a politician.
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi said, "I talked to my people and told them that I wanted to continue the walk. We continued walking when an unknown man approached me. He told me he wanted to talk to me."
The Congress leader further said the man asked him if the Congress leaders had really come to the Union Territory to listen to the woes of the people.
"Moments later, the man pointed towards some nearby people and revealed they were all terrorists," Rahul Gandhi said. "I thought I was in trouble because in that situation terrorists would kill me. But they did not do anything because this is the power of listening," he added.
On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi arrived in the UK to kick off his week-long tour with an address at the University of Cambridge. He also held discussions with Indian diaspora groups there.
During his lecture, Rahul Gandhi focussed at the prestigious University of Cambridge on the "art of listening" and called for new thinking to promote a democratic environment globally, as opposed to a coercive one.
Referencing a decline in manufacturing in democratic countries such as India and the US in recent years as production shifted to China, Gandhi said the shift had produced mass inequality and anger which needed urgent attention and dialogue.