Mine is a 24/7 life: S Jaishankar

S Jaishankar has no time for rest. India’s Minister of External Affairs works round the clock, with as many as 30 to 40 trips overseas on his packed annual calendar. “The routine keeps changing as I travel a lot. There is jet lag and sometimes you don’t know where you are physically and where you are mentally,” says the minister. “It is a 24/7 life.”

A diplomat and former foreign secretary, S Jaishankar assumed his current role in July 2019 and has handled the reins of external matters with confidence during a time of multiple global crises. The past five years have been particularly challenging ones in the realm of international affairs as Covid-19 and the conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine broke out in this period.

A day in this minister’s life, therefore, is one filled with activity and uncertainty. “Some significant development or the other happens somewhere in the world from time to time, so I would say twice a week there are 2 am calls,” he shares. “You build your schedule around these disturbances. Over a period of time this becomes a routine of its own.”

The author of The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World and Why Bharat Matters switches effortlessly between Delhi-style Hindi and formal English. He says he carries a sense of pride about India’s accomplishments into every interaction on the international stage. At meetings during the pandemic, for example, this pride came from belonging to a country that had produced its own vaccine and also digitalised vaccine certification.

Morning habits for success

S Jaishankar starts his morning at around 6 am, and shares that “compared to my family members, that is not early.”

It has been some time now that the minister began doing yoga and stretching before beginning work. Another old habit of his is to play a bit of sport. While it is popularly believed that most diplomats love a game of golf, Jaishankar is a serious squash enthusiast. When the pandemic shut down squash courts, he took up playing badminton and continues to enjoy both sports.

“When you work yourself out in the morning, it is very good for putting you in the right mental frame.” Many mornings, he also likes to take a walk with his wife. “We get to talk then. That is an additional value for that time as well,” says the minister.

He is no stranger to preparation, having been serious about joining the Indian Foreign Service from a young age. Now, as the MEA, he prepares for the day in office by going through reports from around the world. About 125 embassies send in reports about incidents of note in their region.

Being organised is the key to staying on top of things, he says. “In the morning, I try to rapidly catch up on the news. I physically look at 10-12 newspapers. My team helps me too. They send me a roundup of relevant stories.” With the way technology has developed, he says people quickly flag interesting issues for attention. “Then there are WhatsApp and email groups which I go through before it is time to go to work by 9:30.”

Office hours and beyond

At work, the minister gets on what he calls “a treadmill.” Meetings carry him through till the late evening, but the work doesn’t stop there. In the evening, he deals with files with secretaries and completes out-of-hours meetings. “There are people east of us with whom we speak in the morning, and those west of us to whom we reach out in the evening.”

MEA Jaishankar is not averse to catching up on entertainment when time permits. If he finds a bit of room in his tight schedule, he does like to watch a movie or, more often, an episode of a web series “since they are shorter at 45 minutes each.” He also likes to listen to music and read books. Some of his favourite titles include the Mahabharata and its many interpretations, as well as JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.

Some days are slow, he shares. However, there are no weekends. “People think that is a holiday but in reality all the overflow goes to Saturday and what is left is completed on Sunday.”