- Political Affiliation:
- Indian National Congress
- Notable Works:
- âThe Great Indian Novelâ
Shashi Tharoor
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Who is Shashi Tharoor?
Shashi Tharoor, born in London on March 9, 1956, is an Indian politician, diplomat, and author. He served as a minister in the Government of India from 2009 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2014 after a career at the United Nations.
Tharoor earned a Ph.D. at age 22 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, the youngest person to do so at that time. In 2009, he won election to the Lok Sabha and was appointed union minister of state in the Ministry of External Affairs.
Tharoor is also known for his books, including The Great Indian Novel (1989) and An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2016). He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2019 and the Chevalier de la LĂ©gion dâhonneur in 2022.
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What are some important jobs Shashi Tharoor has had in India?
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and author who had a long career at the United Nations before entering Indian politics. In 2009, Tharoor won election to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian Parliament) and was appointed union minister of state in the Ministry of External Affairs.
In 2012, he was appointed union minister of state in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (now called Ministry of Education). He has remained active in the Lok Sabha, serving on committees focused on foreign affairs and defense and was reelected in 2019 and 2024.
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What role did Shashi Tharoor have at the United Nations?
Shashi Tharoor served as a diplomat at the United Nations (UN) for nearly 30 years, holding various positions such as head of the Singapore UNHCR office (1981â84), director of communications and special projects in the office of the secretary-general (1998â2001), and under-secretary-general for communications and public information (2002â07). In 2006, India nominated Tharoor for the position of secretary-general of the UN. He finished second in the election, which was won by Ban Ki-Moon. Following this, he resigned from the UN in 2007.
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What are some books written by Shashi Tharoor?
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, former diplomat, and author of both fiction and nonfiction.
Some of his notable nonfiction works include Reasons of State: Political Development and Indiaâs Foreign Policy Under Indira Gandhi, 1966â1977 (1982), India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond (1997), Nehru: The Invention of India (2003), Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century (2012), and An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2016). His fiction includes The Great Indian Novel (1989), Show Business (1991), and Riot (2001).
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How has Shashi Tharoor contributed to discussions about Indian history and politics?
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and author known for his contributions to Indian political discourse. His non-fiction works, such as Nehru: The Invention of India and An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, delve into Indian history and politics.
Tharoor has served on committees focused on foreign affairs and defense and has been a vocal critic of Indian political figures. Awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2019 for An Era of Darkness, his writing and political commentary reflect his engagement with India's past and present.
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Why is Shashi Tharoor considered an influential public speaker and writer in India and around the world?
Shashi Tharoor is considered an influential public speaker and writer in India and around the world due to his eloquence and rhetorical prowess. His linguistic flair has entered Indian popular culture by way of his posts on X, which often feature recondite words.
Tharoor is a prolific author, and his most-notable nonfiction books include An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2016). Among his works of fiction are The Great Indian Novel (1989), Show Business (1991), which was adapted for the screen as Bollywood (1994), and Riot (2001).
Tharoor has also received the Commonwealth Writersâ Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Chevalier de la LĂ©gion dâhonneur.
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Shashi Tharoor (born March 9, 1956, London, England) is a prominent Indian diplomat and politician who, after a distinguished career at the United Nations, became a minister twice, from 2009 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2014, in the Government of India. He is also a highly regarded author of nonfiction and fiction books.
Early life and education
Tharoor was born into a London-based Indian expatriate family, which returned to India after his birth. He received a bachelorâs degree at the University of Delhi in New Delhi, and in 1978, at age 22, he received a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. At that time Tharoor was the youngest person to earn a doctorate from the Fletcher School.
Career in the United Nations
Tharoor became a staff member in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva in 1978. For nearly the next 30 years he served as a diplomat in the United Nations (UN) in various capacities, including head of the Singapore UNHCR office (1981â84), director of communications and special projects in the office of the secretary-general (1998â2001), and under-secretary-general for communications and public information (2002â07).
In 2006 India nominated Tharoor for the post of secretary-general of the UN. He finished second out of the seven candidates in the election conducted to choose the secretary-general, which was won by former South Korean diplomat and politician Ban Ki-Moon. Following his defeat, Tharoor resigned from the UN in 2007 and became the chairman of Afras Ventures, a Dubai-based company.
Political career and controversies
In 2009 Tharoor joined the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). In May of that year he contested and won the elections to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian Parliament) from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Shortly after the election, he was appointed the union minister of state (a subcabinet-level position) in the Ministry of External Affairs in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
His tenure in office lasted less than a year. One of the reasons for this was his indiscreet use of the social media platform Twitter (now X). His posts generated a series of controversies, including one in which he was alleged to have ridiculed the economic austerity measures of the UPA government. He was also accused of having a vested interestâone that allegedly resulted in Sunanda Pushkar, his future wife, benefiting monetarilyâin the now-disbanded Kochi Tuskers Kerala, a cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL; an annual Twenty20 cricket league organized in India). He resigned from the ministry in April 2010.
Tharoor subsequently remained active in the Lok Sabha, serving on committees focused on foreign affairs and defense. In October 2012 Tharoor was appointed union minister of state in the Ministry of Human Resource Development (now called Ministry of Education). He continued to court controversy in his second ministerial stint, notably by criticizing the contemporary Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Narendra Modi. He retained his seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but stepped down from his ministry post when the UPA government was ousted from power by the victorious BJP in the parliamentary polling. He was reelected to the Lok Sabha in the polls of 2019 and 2024.
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In January 2014 Tharoorâs third wife, Sunanda Pushkar, was found dead in a New Delhi hotel room shortly after accusing him of having an affair. Although the cause of death was determined to be a drug overdose, an autopsy revealed various injuries on her body. A lengthy police investigation resulted in Tharoor being charged in 2018 with marital cruelty and abetting Pushkarâs suicide. The charges were dismissed in 2021.
Publications and awards
- 1990: Commonwealth Writersâ Prize (Europe and South Asia) for best book for The Great Indian Novel (1989)
- 2004: Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Indiaâs highest award for a nonresident Indian, a person of Indian origin, or an organization founded and run by them), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
- 2019: Sahitya Akademi Award for An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2016)
- 2022: Chevalier de la LĂ©gion dâhonneur (âKnight of the Legion of Honourâ; a prestigious civilian honor conferred by France)
Tharoor is renowned for his eloquence and rhetorical prowess. His linguistic flair has entered Indian popular culture by way of his posts on X, which often feature such recondite words as floccinaucinihilipilification (âthe act of evaluating something as valuelessâ) and quomodocunquize (âto generate income through any available meansâ).
Tharoor is a prolific author, and his most-notable nonfiction books include Reasons of State: Political Development and Indiaâs Foreign Policy Under Indira Gandhi, 1966â1977 (1982), India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond (1997), Nehru: The Invention of India (2003), Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century (2012), and An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India (2016). Among his works of fiction are The Great Indian Novel (1989), Show Business (1991), which was adapted for the screen as Bollywood (1994), and Riot (2001).