Senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor speaks about a range of issues starting with his fascination for words, which he inherited from his father Chandran, with whom, when he was young, he would play a variety of challenging word games. In this context, Shashi discusses his new book – his twenty-first – Tharoorosaurus and how it got its hybrid but interesting name. He also talks about how his vocabulary has occasionally gotten him into trouble and, specifically, the ‘cattle class’ and “squeamish vegetarian’ incidents.
Tharoor also speaks about his clipped British accent which he insists is Indian-acquired from day-schools in Bombay and boarding-schools in Kerala. He also talks about the many languages he knows, his childhood and his two younger sisters and their relationship.
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In a 59-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Shashi Tharoor talks of his 30 years with the United Nations, which he joined at the age of 22 in 1978. He reveals details about how the Manmohan Singh government approached him to contest the election for the Secretary-Generalship of the United Nations, why he accepted and how he visited Beijing and won the support of the Chinese government. Even though he lost – and most people thought he would – Shashi says it was not a mistake to stand.
In the interview, Shashi talks about how Sonia Gandhi approached him about joining the Congress Party and contest on its behalf from Thiruvananthapuram in 2009. He answers questions about the fact that many in Congress consider him to be a misfit or an outsider and how he has handled that. He also talks about what politics means to him and why he is drawn to it as his second career.
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Tharoor also talks about religion and God and what both mean to him. He reveals that his home has always had a puja room. He says he believes in a divine power but when asked if he believes in God, he says it all depends on what one means by God. He also talks about the terrible accident in a temple in Kerala last year which could have been fatal. The fact it wasn’t is a sign God saved him.
Shashi Tharoor also talks about his three marriages and responds to the question of whether this is the triumph of hope over experience. He admits that divorce is a kind of failure and talks about his cooking and his flair for making scrambled eggs – which sound more like ande ki bhurji – and idlis.
In one of the more candid and revealing moments of the interview, Shashi talks about the death of his third wife, Sunanda Pushkar, and the police accusation of abetment of suicide. He reveals details of the police raid and details of his extensive co-operation. He talks about how he found the strength to contend with this because he knows he is innocent. But one of the most difficult moments was when his mother was confronted by a neighbour and, he adds, how grateful he is that his father is not alive to have to hear these accusations.
