It was a great opportunity for Rashid Gazali, a native of Koolivayal village in North Wayanad to be chosen as Congress president Rahul Gandhi's translator for a 16-minute speech, but what made him tense before the public meeting was whether he would be able to translate the leader's actual feelings into the local language, and help him connect with the crowd.

Gazali was chosen at the last moment and was not even given a copy of the speech before the event. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala State Committee, had suggested his name, as he was one of the most highly educated persons from the district. However, till the last moment even the Muslim League office bearers were not sure whether Rahul's team would get a Malayalam translator from outside or would prefer someone from Wayanad itself. With almost no time to prepare and expected to become an impromptu translator at the St Mary's College ground event, an hour before he took the stage with Gandhi, AICC office bearers asked him, "The entire nation will be watching, the quality of translation should be assured. Are you confident?" Well, Gazali had no response to this then, but it seems he lived up to the expectations.