During the US President Donald Trump and Melania’s arrival at Ahmedabad airport today, along with our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the media has also captured one more person standing beside the trio. The woman, though is popular by now, is still unrecognizable to a few. She is none other than Gurdeep Chawla, an Indian-American. Ms Chawla accompanied Trump couple and Modi to Sabarmati Ashram as well.
Today, she is working as an interpreter for Donald Trump. Gurdeep has been a language interpreter for 27 years including the honour of interpreting for President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Obama’s visit to India last January for India’s Republic Day ceremonies. Starting her career at 21 years of age (1990) in the Indian parliament as a language interpreter, Gurdeep is a popular figure by now as she has been spotted in many big political meetings and gatherings, especially between countries like the US/Canada and India.
In 2014, Gurdeep had interpreted PM Modi’s first speech at the United Nations General Assembly. She was in fact lauded for her work as she interpreted without prior notice or homework or even without a single book beforehand. When asked her, Gurdeep said that she started her career after seeing a vacancy position to translate for the Indian Parliament while she was studying at St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi. She has a forte for speaking strongly in languages and this made her stride into the field.
To reach this level, Gurdeep said that she would spend a few hours watching the proceedings of Parliament and recording her voice interpreting radio news, and she used to listen to her performance in order to improve her interpreting accuracy.
