The voice behind PM Modi

Three years back, the world witnessed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The newly elected PM reminded everyone about India’s abiding battle against extremist groups. It was expected to listen to this PM’s strong counter-terrorism measures, but we ended up hearing Gurdeep Chawla’s voice.

Chawla, an interpreter and translator with over 27years experience, interpreted Modi’s speech from Hindi to English in New York without any prior practice or a single look at the speech beforehand.

She narrated how she had slept for only two hours as she had to reach UN early. “By 9 am, I was live interpreting for Modi,” she says. “It felt excited to listen to my voice on every international channel.”

In 2014, she later accompanied Modi to the Madison Square Garden event. There the PM spoke to 18,000 Indians and NRIs.

Chawla then flew with him on Air India One to Washington DC where she interpreted the conversation between the then US President, Barack Obama and Modi.

Chawla yells that she feels excited about creating a history.