When a class 12 Kerala girl translated Rahul Gandhi's speech

Wayanad: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while inaugurating a science lab in a school in his parliamentary constituency Wayanad on Thursday, asked students to volunteer for translating his speech from English to Malayalam.

"Is anyone willing to translate my speech?" he asked, as his usual translator, party leader KC Venugopal, sat smiling. Safa Sebin, a Class 12 student, stepped up to the challenge, as she walked confidentially onto the stage amid loud cheers and applause, setting up an exchange she would probably cherish all her life.

As she reached the stage and met Rahal Gandhi face-to-face, Safa's first reaction was to greet him with a namaste. The Congress leader exchanged the greeting with a warm handshake.

He handed a mic to the student and began his speech. "Let me tell you the essence of Science. The most important thing in science is that you need an open mind. Your mind cannot be closed.

That means that you have to listen to other people. This means you have to responsive other people's ideas," he said in English, promptly translated into Malayalam by Safa Sebin.