The former Prime Minister did not make much of his remarkable career and was willing to answer uncomfortable questions
There is a simple way of knowing what world leaders are like, which is to observe the demeanour of their staff. While sitting down for interviews with leaders, I have often been more struck by how nervous or ill-tempered their secretaries and advisers are than by the leaders themselves who, by and large, want to make a good impression. If those in the background are relaxed and smiling, it indicates that the leader is easy-going. If the staff are on their toes, shifting anxiously as the interview proceeds, it suggests that the leader is imperious. I once sat through a particularly difficult interview where the leader’s press adviser sat right behind him, fixing me with a pleading stare, sweating profusely every time I asked a question that the boss may not have liked, and repeatedly trying to cut the interview short.
By that count, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last week, was an extremely easy boss. I seldom saw anyone in his office in New Delhi’s South Block appear worried in his presence. In 2009, when Dr. Singh won a re-election after completing a full term from 2004 to 2009, a first at that time since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, I was able to test my theory on a number of occasions. He granted me an interview on the campaign trail, to speak about his initiatives with the U.S. and Pakistan, charges of corruption against his government, and plans for the future. The 2009 win was particularly significant as he had come through a heart bypass just months before the election, and in his interview, he was clear that 2009 would be his last election (he didn’t contest in 2014). He also gave the television channel I worked for (CNN-IBN) access to the Prime Minister’s home to interview his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and their daughters. Later, I also anchored a children’s day show where Dr. Singh interacted with 60 children, who asked him largely unscripted questions, such as “why do you wear a blue turban?” and “how do you feel when you are called a weak Prime Minister?” One child was scathing about India’s education system, saying “thousands of children are out begging on the streets”. Even when I asked Dr. Singh about being called a “puppet Prime Minister” with then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi holding the strings, he answered with unerring politeness, and with no interference from his advisers.
While his bearing was serious, Dr. Singh wasn’t above some mischievous humour. At a formal lunch he hosted for a visiting dignitary, he was pressed repeatedly about raising India’s climate change commitments. The guest proceeded to give him a lecture on all the new technology that the West was adopting, including in electric vehicles. Dr. Singh listened politely, and whispered something to an aide. When the convoy arrived to ferry the guest away, Dr. Singh handed him, not into the white Ambassador cars that were normally used, but into a tiny Reva, the earliest Indian electric vehicle, with a slightly sardonic smile. “Voh gussa pee jaate hain (He drinks up his anger)” Mrs. Kaur said when I asked her why he never seemed to lose his cool.
Manmohan Singh: A life in pictures
Dr. Manmohan Singh relinquished office as Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, and took over as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 22, 1982.
Manmohan Singh, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India calls on then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran at the State Secretariat on March 7, 1983.
(From left) B.B. Sundaresan, Vice-Chancellor, S.L. Khurana, Tamil Nadu Governor and Chancellor of the Madras University, Manmohan Singh, Governor of Reserve bank of India, and C. Aranganayagam, Education Minister, at the convocation of Madras University in Madras on January 10, 1985.
Then World Bank President, Lewis T. Preston, with the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, during a luncheon meeting in New Delhi on November 12, 1992.
Looking back down the road the economy has travelled for three years under his guidance? Or is Dr. Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister trying to see what the future holds? Picture published on July 18, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh on the way to Parliament to present the Budget for 1994- 95.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh presides over the 34th meeting of the Advisory Board on Customs and Central Excise in New Delhi on September 14, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, giving final touches to the general budget for 1995-96 in New Delhi on March 14, 1995.
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao with his Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during an awards ceremony in New Delhi on April 20, 1995.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi with Manmohan Singh, CPI(M) leader Harikishan Singh Surjeet and CPI leader D. Raja after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on January 13, 2002.
Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting with Confederation of Indian Industries members on party and election finance in New Delhi on February 22, 2002.
A Congress delegation of Ahmed Patel, Manmohan Singh, Kamal Nath and Arjun Singh are seen at the Prime Minister’s house after discussing about the Gujarat situation in New Delhi on February 28, 2002.
Then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his Home Minister L.K. Advani meeting with then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, at his residence in New Delhi, to discuss security situation in May 19, 2002.
Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh, accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi shows the letter of support from Congress and its allies, during a press meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 19, 2004.
Manmohan Singh takes oath as Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi during a dinner meeting at her residence in New Delhi on May 23, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after offering tributes at Shanti Van on the occasion of 40th death anniversary Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi on May 27, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the birth centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, in New Delhi on October 2, 2004.
Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Manmohan Singh during a meeting in New Delhi on April 11, 2005, in which the two leaders inked accords to resolve boundary disputes between the two countries.
(From left) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gurcharan Kaur and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during the Defence Investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on April 19, 2005.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on June 12, 2009.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during an MoU signing ceremony for the Dhamanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi link projects in New Delhi on May 3, 2010.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets former Prime minister Manmohan Singh during an event to inaugurate the passenger terminal building of the Kartarpur corridor on the Indian side, also known as Integrated Check Post, in Gurdaspur on November 9, 2019.
Dr. Singh had a remarkable career, but he didn’t make too much of it. In fact, he suppressed any reporter’s instinct for emotive copy. His family did the same, telling me in an interview that his favourite food was lauki ka halwa and kadi chawal (he was vegetarian) and that they hadn’t been on a holiday in decades. Seeing the disappointment on my face at these slightly colourless responses for the profile I was working on, his daughter said, almost conspiratorially, that I should ask him to sing. She disclosed that he had sung to them as children, and had also composed songs for his grandchildren as lullabies. However, I never got my wish. When I asked him at the children’s day event to perform his favourite song, he blushed and quickly turned to his wife, known for her kirtan singing, saying, “She is much better than me”.
Manmohan Singh: An easy boss with some mischievous humour
The former Prime Minister did not make much of his remarkable career and was willing to answer uncomfortable questions
There is a simple way of knowing what world leaders are like, which is to observe the demeanour of their staff. While sitting down for interviews with leaders, I have often been more struck by how nervous or ill-tempered their secretaries and advisers are than by the leaders themselves who, by and large, want to make a good impression. If those in the background are relaxed and smiling, it indicates that the leader is easy-going. If the staff are on their toes, shifting anxiously as the interview proceeds, it suggests that the leader is imperious. I once sat through a particularly difficult interview where the leader’s press adviser sat right behind him, fixing me with a pleading stare, sweating profusely every time I asked a question that the boss may not have liked, and repeatedly trying to cut the interview short.
By that count, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last week, was an extremely easy boss. I seldom saw anyone in his office in New Delhi’s South Block appear worried in his presence. In 2009, when Dr. Singh won a re-election after completing a full term from 2004 to 2009, a first at that time since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, I was able to test my theory on a number of occasions. He granted me an interview on the campaign trail, to speak about his initiatives with the U.S. and Pakistan, charges of corruption against his government, and plans for the future. The 2009 win was particularly significant as he had come through a heart bypass just months before the election, and in his interview, he was clear that 2009 would be his last election (he didn’t contest in 2014). He also gave the television channel I worked for (CNN-IBN) access to the Prime Minister’s home to interview his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and their daughters. Later, I also anchored a children’s day show where Dr. Singh interacted with 60 children, who asked him largely unscripted questions, such as “why do you wear a blue turban?” and “how do you feel when you are called a weak Prime Minister?” One child was scathing about India’s education system, saying “thousands of children are out begging on the streets”. Even when I asked Dr. Singh about being called a “puppet Prime Minister” with then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi holding the strings, he answered with unerring politeness, and with no interference from his advisers.
While his bearing was serious, Dr. Singh wasn’t above some mischievous humour. At a formal lunch he hosted for a visiting dignitary, he was pressed repeatedly about raising India’s climate change commitments. The guest proceeded to give him a lecture on all the new technology that the West was adopting, including in electric vehicles. Dr. Singh listened politely, and whispered something to an aide. When the convoy arrived to ferry the guest away, Dr. Singh handed him, not into the white Ambassador cars that were normally used, but into a tiny Reva, the earliest Indian electric vehicle, with a slightly sardonic smile. “Voh gussa pee jaate hain (He drinks up his anger)” Mrs. Kaur said when I asked her why he never seemed to lose his cool.
Manmohan Singh: A life in pictures
Dr. Manmohan Singh relinquished office as Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, and took over as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 22, 1982.
Manmohan Singh, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India calls on then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran at the State Secretariat on March 7, 1983.
(From left) B.B. Sundaresan, Vice-Chancellor, S.L. Khurana, Tamil Nadu Governor and Chancellor of the Madras University, Manmohan Singh, Governor of Reserve bank of India, and C. Aranganayagam, Education Minister, at the convocation of Madras University in Madras on January 10, 1985.
Then World Bank President, Lewis T. Preston, with the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, during a luncheon meeting in New Delhi on November 12, 1992.
Looking back down the road the economy has travelled for three years under his guidance? Or is Dr. Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister trying to see what the future holds? Picture published on July 18, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh on the way to Parliament to present the Budget for 1994- 95.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh presides over the 34th meeting of the Advisory Board on Customs and Central Excise in New Delhi on September 14, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, giving final touches to the general budget for 1995-96 in New Delhi on March 14, 1995.
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao with his Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during an awards ceremony in New Delhi on April 20, 1995.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi with Manmohan Singh, CPI(M) leader Harikishan Singh Surjeet and CPI leader D. Raja after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on January 13, 2002.
Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting with Confederation of Indian Industries members on party and election finance in New Delhi on February 22, 2002.
A Congress delegation of Ahmed Patel, Manmohan Singh, Kamal Nath and Arjun Singh are seen at the Prime Minister’s house after discussing about the Gujarat situation in New Delhi on February 28, 2002.
Then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his Home Minister L.K. Advani meeting with then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, at his residence in New Delhi, to discuss security situation in May 19, 2002.
Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh, accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi shows the letter of support from Congress and its allies, during a press meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 19, 2004.
Manmohan Singh takes oath as Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi during a dinner meeting at her residence in New Delhi on May 23, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after offering tributes at Shanti Van on the occasion of 40th death anniversary Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi on May 27, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the birth centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, in New Delhi on October 2, 2004.
Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Manmohan Singh during a meeting in New Delhi on April 11, 2005, in which the two leaders inked accords to resolve boundary disputes between the two countries.
(From left) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gurcharan Kaur and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during the Defence Investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on April 19, 2005.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on June 12, 2009.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during an MoU signing ceremony for the Dhamanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi link projects in New Delhi on May 3, 2010.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets former Prime minister Manmohan Singh during an event to inaugurate the passenger terminal building of the Kartarpur corridor on the Indian side, also known as Integrated Check Post, in Gurdaspur on November 9, 2019.
Dr. Singh had a remarkable career, but he didn’t make too much of it. In fact, he suppressed any reporter’s instinct for emotive copy. His family did the same, telling me in an interview that his favourite food was lauki ka halwa and kadi chawal (he was vegetarian) and that they hadn’t been on a holiday in decades. Seeing the disappointment on my face at these slightly colourless responses for the profile I was working on, his daughter said, almost conspiratorially, that I should ask him to sing. She disclosed that he had sung to them as children, and had also composed songs for his grandchildren as lullabies. However, I never got my wish. When I asked him at the children’s day event to perform his favourite song, he blushed and quickly turned to his wife, known for her kirtan singing, saying, “She is much better than me”.
Manmohan Singh: An easy boss with some mischievous humour
The former Prime Minister did not make much of his remarkable career and was willing to answer uncomfortable questions
There is a simple way of knowing what world leaders are like, which is to observe the demeanour of their staff. While sitting down for interviews with leaders, I have often been more struck by how nervous or ill-tempered their secretaries and advisers are than by the leaders themselves who, by and large, want to make a good impression. If those in the background are relaxed and smiling, it indicates that the leader is easy-going. If the staff are on their toes, shifting anxiously as the interview proceeds, it suggests that the leader is imperious. I once sat through a particularly difficult interview where the leader’s press adviser sat right behind him, fixing me with a pleading stare, sweating profusely every time I asked a question that the boss may not have liked, and repeatedly trying to cut the interview short.
By that count, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who passed away last week, was an extremely easy boss. I seldom saw anyone in his office in New Delhi’s South Block appear worried in his presence. In 2009, when Dr. Singh won a re-election after completing a full term from 2004 to 2009, a first at that time since Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, I was able to test my theory on a number of occasions. He granted me an interview on the campaign trail, to speak about his initiatives with the U.S. and Pakistan, charges of corruption against his government, and plans for the future. The 2009 win was particularly significant as he had come through a heart bypass just months before the election, and in his interview, he was clear that 2009 would be his last election (he didn’t contest in 2014). He also gave the television channel I worked for (CNN-IBN) access to the Prime Minister’s home to interview his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and their daughters. Later, I also anchored a children’s day show where Dr. Singh interacted with 60 children, who asked him largely unscripted questions, such as “why do you wear a blue turban?” and “how do you feel when you are called a weak Prime Minister?” One child was scathing about India’s education system, saying “thousands of children are out begging on the streets”. Even when I asked Dr. Singh about being called a “puppet Prime Minister” with then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi holding the strings, he answered with unerring politeness, and with no interference from his advisers.
While his bearing was serious, Dr. Singh wasn’t above some mischievous humour. At a formal lunch he hosted for a visiting dignitary, he was pressed repeatedly about raising India’s climate change commitments. The guest proceeded to give him a lecture on all the new technology that the West was adopting, including in electric vehicles. Dr. Singh listened politely, and whispered something to an aide. When the convoy arrived to ferry the guest away, Dr. Singh handed him, not into the white Ambassador cars that were normally used, but into a tiny Reva, the earliest Indian electric vehicle, with a slightly sardonic smile. “Voh gussa pee jaate hain (He drinks up his anger)” Mrs. Kaur said when I asked her why he never seemed to lose his cool.
Manmohan Singh: A life in pictures
Dr. Manmohan Singh relinquished office as Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, and took over as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 22, 1982.
Manmohan Singh, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India calls on then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran at the State Secretariat on March 7, 1983.
(From left) B.B. Sundaresan, Vice-Chancellor, S.L. Khurana, Tamil Nadu Governor and Chancellor of the Madras University, Manmohan Singh, Governor of Reserve bank of India, and C. Aranganayagam, Education Minister, at the convocation of Madras University in Madras on January 10, 1985.
Then World Bank President, Lewis T. Preston, with the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and Union Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, during a luncheon meeting in New Delhi on November 12, 1992.
Looking back down the road the economy has travelled for three years under his guidance? Or is Dr. Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister trying to see what the future holds? Picture published on July 18, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh on the way to Parliament to present the Budget for 1994- 95.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh presides over the 34th meeting of the Advisory Board on Customs and Central Excise in New Delhi on September 14, 1994.
Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, giving final touches to the general budget for 1995-96 in New Delhi on March 14, 1995.
Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao with his Finance Minister Manmohan Singh during an awards ceremony in New Delhi on April 20, 1995.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi with Manmohan Singh, CPI(M) leader Harikishan Singh Surjeet and CPI leader D. Raja after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi on January 13, 2002.
Former Finance Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting with Confederation of Indian Industries members on party and election finance in New Delhi on February 22, 2002.
A Congress delegation of Ahmed Patel, Manmohan Singh, Kamal Nath and Arjun Singh are seen at the Prime Minister’s house after discussing about the Gujarat situation in New Delhi on February 28, 2002.
Then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his Home Minister L.K. Advani meeting with then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, at his residence in New Delhi, to discuss security situation in May 19, 2002.
Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh, accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi shows the letter of support from Congress and its allies, during a press meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 19, 2004.
Manmohan Singh takes oath as Prime Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 22, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi during a dinner meeting at her residence in New Delhi on May 23, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after offering tributes at Shanti Van on the occasion of 40th death anniversary Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi on May 27, 2004.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the birth centenary celebrations of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, in New Delhi on October 2, 2004.
Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Manmohan Singh during a meeting in New Delhi on April 11, 2005, in which the two leaders inked accords to resolve boundary disputes between the two countries.
(From left) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his wife Gurcharan Kaur and Congress president Sonia Gandhi during the Defence Investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on April 19, 2005.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on June 12, 2009.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during an MoU signing ceremony for the Dhamanganga-Pinjal and Par-Tapi link projects in New Delhi on May 3, 2010.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets former Prime minister Manmohan Singh during an event to inaugurate the passenger terminal building of the Kartarpur corridor on the Indian side, also known as Integrated Check Post, in Gurdaspur on November 9, 2019.
Dr. Singh had a remarkable career, but he didn’t make too much of it. In fact, he suppressed any reporter’s instinct for emotive copy. His family did the same, telling me in an interview that his favourite food was lauki ka halwa and kadi chawal (he was vegetarian) and that they hadn’t been on a holiday in decades. Seeing the disappointment on my face at these slightly colourless responses for the profile I was working on, his daughter said, almost conspiratorially, that I should ask him to sing. She disclosed that he had sung to them as children, and had also composed songs for his grandchildren as lullabies. However, I never got my wish. When I asked him at the children’s day event to perform his favourite song, he blushed and quickly turned to his wife, known for her kirtan singing, saying, “She is much better than me”.
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