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Jyotiraditya Scindia, MP.

What does spirituality mean to you?
It may sound simplistic, but to me it is really about the essence of being, about delving into myself and understanding why I am here, what is my calling, am I doing the right thing. It is about looking beyond the materialistic and visual planes. The race of life, the endless chores and activities I am involved in do not necessarily leave much time for it but sometimes you must sit back and introspect.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?
I used to believe so, but a lot of things changed in me in 2001, when my father passed away. Now I do not necessarily believe there is a great force out there protecting me from a great ill that has to happen, or to propel me into my own destiny. I do believe though in a greater force one is accountable to. If I delve inside, and stand responsible for what I am and what I do, I can in a way sense what that force has to say.

Do you believe you have a special mission or purpose in this life?
I do not believe people are born with a specific purpose or destiny. Each one of us gradually finds his way through the maze, thanks to an active or inactive quest which can be called spiritual. Then more concretely, as far as I am concerned, things obviously dramatically changed with my father’s death, when I entered public life. Before then, I was a banker in the United States. That experience gave me a lot as it taught me survival in a cut-throat environment. Maybe I was a bit too laid back before, so I learnt there the ability to deliver, to drive, to achieve things. But my life was quite materialistic. After 2001, a lot of things suddenly made more sense, especially about my father and his sense of responsibility, his calling, the desire to serve, and I would feel the same. If I can make even a small difference in anyone’s life, then I am moving ahead on my path in the right way. Politics though were never my calling, public service is, so the former is merely a means to achieve the latter.

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