Mijito Chishi: Rising diplomat star

FOR MIJITO CHISHI, every government service is unique and special in its own way even as he strongly asserts, “The chance to serve the people through the government is a huge responsibility that one cannot take for granted.”

Currently based in South Korea as Third Secretary in the Embassy of India, Seoul, Mijito finds it hard to believe that over two years have gone by since the exam (UPSC) which propelled him to where he is today. “I have vivid memories of the dingy ground floor one room I had in Rajinder Nagar when I first came to Delhi in 2006,” he confesses as he goes on to recall fond memories associated with that time of his life. 

Then, he remembers the many random people he met as an aspirant, with strangers ever willing to dish out advice on the exams at every opportunity.

“The more I listened, the more confused I became so I eventually stuck to a few friends with whom I could study, share and learn from. It took three years and three attempts. Yes, it was discouraging to fail twice at the Mains second stage but I took away lessons from every failure. I could modify my answers and strengthen my basics. Preaching perseverance is easier but the reality was that I could get by only by prayer and at my end, attempts at discipline. To focus on this exam meant giving up other things,” says Mijito.

This, more or less, sums up his attempts at the most prestigious civil exam in the country, which, of course, he eventually earned with a lot of hard work, determination and faith. He stayed honest to the coaching class, to himself when he was in his room and asked God for help daily. “At the end, I realised that I cannot do this on my own and that God had to intervene” is his final say to the rigorous times of dedicating himself to what he honestly believed in. 

Asked if there was any particular turning point in his life, Mijito says, “To be honest, failure was a major turning point.” 

Explaining this, he adds, “I dropped a year in college for a variety of reasons and my own lack of resolve. I had been an above average student in school with a pretty decent academic record, so I didn’t think much of college. But failure brought down my pride. I had to go back home for my masters eventually because my scores were not good enough for DU anymore. Failure has many lessons – academics is just one of them.”

Talking about the younger days, Mijito recalls that a frequent answer to the million-dollar question - ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ was to become a doctor like his father. “I vacillated later and wanted to be an IAS officer. My answers were largely set answers which came out of the mouth of every young dreamer at that time viz. doctor, engineer or IAS.” 

Eventually, the fact that Civil Services was there somewhere in his mind made him consider the option later in life. “After wavering here and there a bit, I came back to this option and decided to write it seriously. I am grateful for God’s blessing. It is far beyond any dream I’d had,” the young achiever says.

If one were to take a brief journey into what his experience as an IFS Officer has been like so far, one would have to go back to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie where he spent 3 months for a Foundation Course in August 2010 and trained with officers from the IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service. He feels it was a privilege to see things from a broad perspective and to learn to appreciate all kinds of viewpoints. 

Sharing more of his stay there, Mijito says, “Meeting people from each unique state removed the tunnel vision that I had on many things. My roommate was an IPS officer who is now serving in Maharashtra; two very good friends serve in the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the IAS and one friend is serving in Nagaland cadre! I also met four amazing Naga officers from the Forest Service.”

After the Foundation course, he came to Delhi and joined the Foreign Service Institute for roughly 18 months. To represent the country, he states, you cannot not know about the country. To this end, he explains that the training built his awareness about the country on all fronts, whether it is history, politics, culture, economics, demography etc.

“In the Bharat Darshan (India Study Tour), I saw the cold deserts of Ladakh, the sandy deserts and fortresses of Rajashthan, the boundless civilization that was Hampi, the French colony that was Pondicherry, the beautiful Andamans and the silence of the Sunderbans. How can one not sell an India as beautiful, diverse and varied as this? How can I be ungrateful?” is what he has to say. 

Well, he adds, the Indian Foreign Service gives an opportunity to work for the country by serving fellow citizens in other countries. Along this line, he also says the IFS gives a lot of exposure and perhaps complements his other interests too as one gets to travel, live in another country and learn about other cultures whose importance, he says, cannot be overemphasized. 

“You get to see things from someone else’s perspective - sometimes a different one entirely - and ultimately you have to use these lessons to serve your country in the best way possible. There are so many people one gets to meet and interact with all the time, so it helps in keeping you sharp and always alert. In a sense, you’re always working.”

Also, because in the IFS one has to specialize in at least one foreign language, he is currently learning Korean while his batch mates are spread around the world, from Mexico to Moscow to Tokyo learning their respective languages. 

The young foreign officer further emphasises that nothing worthwhile comes easy.

And if there is something that he’d like to tell young people, it is this: “Take on challenging tasks. The more challenging the task, the harder you’ll work and the quicker you’ll realise that it’s not just about yourself. You learn to know the value of others and, most of all, you learn to depend on God. If we are a Naga society that always wants the easy way to get something, then we have no foundation at all. We have no lesson to impart to the younger generation because we lack experience and we can convince no one. Ironically, sustained self-confidence comes from confidence others have in you and not from a misplaced sense of knowing-it-all. My uncle Ahu Sakhrie used to tell me, to know you have to learn to say ‘I don’t know’.”

As for him, he says that the UPSC taught him how important basics were in life even as he expresses, “As embarrassing as it was, I had to go back to the most basic books from Class 11/12 and college purely because I finally had to accept that I didn’t know. It is true even today. I have basic books within reach so that I can keep reminding myself.”

The bottom line, he emphasises, is to “strengthen your basics”. “Learn to ask questions and admit your ignorance. There are two outcomes at the end – ‘you either learn or you don’t’, he says, and further adds, “I also want to remind young people that there is no substitute for education. As my pastor used to say, student life is short, make the best of it. If you don’t read, you can’t write and if you can’t write, it’s quite likely you can’t speak well. So pick up a book or newspaper, or read articles on the internet.”

In the meantime, Mijito notes, “Nagas have been known to be warriors. But sometimes I worry if that part is just limited to fighting – which really is reacting in a ‘my way or the highway’ kind of immature behaviour. We must be warriors even in other things, like work, study or just being honest and true to the task given to you. It’s not about punching someone in the face.” 

Well, anyway having come this far, does the young officer have a role model? He responds with, “It’s hard to say specifically who was or is my role model, but I’ve been drawn by a variety of people. When I was preparing for the exams it would be the honest and efficient Civil Servants I’d read about in the papers. I’d be drawn not only by honesty and sincerity but by simplicity and officers who did it well.” But, yes, he expresses, with pride, “I’ve also always held my parents high for who they are and I’d like to continue their legacy and what they’ve taught me.”

The eldest son of Dr Vinito Chishi and Mrs Bano Sakhrie Vinito, Mjito has four siblings – three brothers and one sister. He went to Wynberg-Allen School in Mussoorie where he finished Class 12 and graduated from Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi University and went on to earn an M.Com post graduate degree from Nagaland University in 2006. He confesses he is a movie buff and also likes singing, reading, travelling and writing too! More of an outdoors person, he enjoys hiking as well. 

Ask him his future plans and the lines that follow are that of profound gratitude. “I am thankful for where God has brought me and the privilege He has given me. I just want to be fruitful and be true to my task at hand. Day by day, I want to give it my best. My future is in the hands of my Lord Jesus”, are Mijito’s heartfelt words.