Dad-in-law is a fun guy: Sachin

While his professional life has been pretty much smooth sailing, the country’s young parliamentarian Sachin Pilot’s personal life, in particular his marriage to former J&K chief minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah’s daughter Sara reads like a typical Bollywood script: Hindu boy marries Muslim girl, both scions of rival political leaders, girl’s family boycotts the wedding, the press and rival parties go ballistic. After the inevitable drama, it’s a happy family reunion. “My father-in-law is a great man, fun to be with and a good politician,” says Sachin, indicating that the ice between two families has finally thawed.

Of course, coming from such diverse political backgrounds, he does have occasional clashes of viewpoints with wife Sara. “We are two aware citizens. We’re obviously going to have difference of opinions, but Sara doesn’t interfere in my work. She has her own professional life, working with a UN agency,” he reveals.

For obvious reasons, Sachin Pilot is a far cry from the typical Indian politician. For one, he belongs to the small yet emerging class of young, very well-educated and equally well-turned out MPs. Be that as it may, this business graduate from the prestigious Wharton School is anything but pompous. “If there’s one thing I learnt from my dad (late Rajesh Pilot) was never to forget my roots. His humility and his accessibility to the people were his greatest qualities,” he says.

It’s been a little over a year since Sachin was elected to Parliament from Dausa, Rajasthan, and though he’s sometimes frustrated with the slow-moving government machinery, he hasn’t let the setbacks bog him down. “Sometimes, one wants to do many things, but the resources are limited and things gets delayed…but it’s no big deal. Politics has its share of problems like any other job. I just look at it as a challenge,” he says rather nonchalantly.

Wise words from a young man. It’s no wonder that the young Turk hasn’t found it difficult to win over his colleagues in Parliament. “Age really doesn’t make a difference. Credibility comes with what you have to say, what you think, how you articulate your views and how productive your debates are. If you have the determination and the courage to get things done, everybody takes notice.”

And to think, his entry into politics was never discussed in his father’s lifetime! “Living in an environment where politics was discussed at breakfast, lunch and dinner, I was obviously clued in, especially since I helped out dad a lot, but there was no grooming as such. Things changed dramatically after his death and I found myself in a place that I had to be,” he recalls. 

For now, he is more focused on bridging the gap between “India and Bharat”. “The real India lives in villages. We have to take them along with us, towards economic development.”