Shashi Tharoor ( ) (born 9 March 1956) is the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and a member of the Indian Parliament from the Trivandrum constituency in Kerala. He served as the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information between June 2002 and February 2007, during the term of Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the United Nations. In 2006, he was the official candidate of India for the office of United Nations Secretary-General, and came second out of seven official candidates in the race. He is also a prolific author, columnist, journalist, human-rights advocate, humanitarian and adviser or fellow of various institutions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Aspen Institute, and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Early life

Shashi Tharoor was born in London to Chandran Tharoor, born Tharoor Chandrasekharan Nair, hailing from the 'Tharoor Tharavad' of Chittilanchery, Palakkad, Kerala. His mother, Lily Tharoor, born Sulekha Menon, hails from 'Mundarath Tharavad' in Elavanchery, Palakkad, Kerala and has adopted the nickname "Lily" as her formal name. His roots are in Palakkad, Kerala, India. He studied at Montfort School in Yercaud and Campion School in Mumbai, attended high school at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in Kolkata, Bachelor of Arts degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi .
He later joined Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He then completed a Ph.D. at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, at the age of 22.

Career

In 1978, Tharoor began working for the United Nations, serving with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, whose Singapore office he headed during the boat people crisis. He began as a senior official at the United Nations headquarters in New York in 1989, where, until late 1996, he was responsible for peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia.

From January 1997 to July 1998, he was executive assistant to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He was appointed director of communications and special projects in the office of the Secretary-General, and in January 2001, he was appointed by the Secretary-General as interim head of the Department of Public Information. On June 1, 2002, he was confirmed as the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information. In this capacity, he was responsible for the communication strategy, enhancing the image and effectiveness of the UN. In 2003, the Secretary-General appointed him to the additional responsibility of United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism.

Tharoor's was an exceptional UN career, rising as he did from the P-2 level to the highest possible rank of Under-Secretary-General in a mere 23 years. He was privileged to play a key role in some of the major events of his time, from the Vietnamese boat people crisis to the Yugoslav Civil Wars, to serve in both the humanitarian and peace-keeping arenas as well as in the Secretary-General's office.http://www.nysun.com/new-york/shashi-tharoor-inside-man/32384/ He established a reputation at the Department of Public Information as a reformer and as the UN's most articulate voice for the principles of the United Nations Charter and the work of multilateralism in an increasingly unipolar world. He took a number of initiatives, ranging from organizing and conducting the first-ever UN seminar on anti-Semitism and also the first-ever UN seminar on Islamophobia to launching an annual list of "Ten Under-Reported Stories the World Ought to Know About".

Tharoor resigned from the post of Under Secretary General on February 9, 2007 and left the UN effective 1 April 2007.

Campaign for Secretary-General

On June 15, 2006, the Government of India announced its backing for Tharoor’s candidacy as Kofi Annan’s successor for the post of UN Secretary General.

Tharoor came a close second (behind Ban Ki-moon) in each of the four straw polls conducted by the UN Security Council on 24 July, when he won 10 votes to Ban's 12 14 September, 28 September and 2 October, though he handily won an online poll conducted by the BBC News website. In the fourth poll, Ban emerged as the only candidate with the support of all five permanent members, each of whom has the power to veto candidates. Tharoor remained the only other candidate of seven contenders to enjoy a majority in the Security Council, though with one Permanent Member (later revealed to be the US under the Bush Administration) opposed, and one (China) abstaining. After the vote, Tharoor withdrew his candidacy, telling reporters he was “confident that Ban will win.” If he became the secretary general he would have been the youngest secretary general ever for the UN.

Post-UN career

thumb|Shashi Tharoor delivering a lecture at Université d'été du MEDEF, 2007
In February 2007, amidst rampant speculation about his post-UN future, it was presciently reported in the Indian press that Tharoor might be inducted into council of ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Minister of State for External Affairs. In the same month, it was reported in an American gossip blog that Tharoor was a finalist for the position of dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles, though he withdrew his name from consideration at the final stage. Instead, Dr. Tharoor—in addition to a variety of other activities in his private life— became chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures, which established the Afras Academy for Business Communication (AABC) in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. He also spoke widely around the globe about India and Kerala, the state where he spent increasing amounts of time before moving for good in October 2008.

Political Career in India

On 19 March 2009, Tharoor was declared as the Indian National Congress candidate of the Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha constituency) in Kerala for the General Elections in 2009. Tharoor featured in a five-cornered contest against P. Ramachandran Nair of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Neelalohitadasan Nadar of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), M.P. Gangadharan of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and P. K. Krishna Das of Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP). Tharoor's political website, www.shashitharoor.in, and use of new media technologies in his campaign (including emails, voice SMS, and the use of social networking websites Facebook and Twitter) set the benchmark for future political websites and organizing in India. He eventually became the first Indian celebrity to get 100,000 followers on Twitter. Despite the dispersal of the anti-Left vote amongst several candidates, and the challenge of being attacked as an elite "outsider" by his opponents, Tharoor won a thumping victory, defeating his nearest CPI rival P. Ramachandran Nair by a margin of around 100,000 votes (the biggest victory by any candidate in Thiruvananthapuram in over 30 years) when the results were announced on May 16, 2009.

On 28 May 2009, Shashi Tharoor was sworn in as Minister of State of the Union Government of India as External Affairs minister, in the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Literary career

Tharoor has written numerous books in English. Most of his literary creations are centred on Indian themes and they are markedly “Indo-nostalgic.” Perhaps his most famous work is The Great Indian Novel, published in 1989, in which he uses the narrative and theme of the famous Indian epic Mahabharata to weave a satirical story of Indian life in a non-linear mode with the characters drawn from the Indian Independence Movement. His novel Show Business (1992) was made into the film 'Bollywood' (1994). The late Ismail Merchant had announced his wish to make a film of Tharoor’s novel Riot shortly before Merchant’s death in 2005.

Tharoor has been a highly-regarded columnist in each of India's three best-known English-language newspapers, most recently for The Hindu newspaper (2001-2008) and in a weekly column, “Shashi on Sunday,” in the Times of India (January 2007 - December 2008). Previously he was a columnist for the Gentleman magazine and the Indian Express newspaper, as well as a frequent contributor to Newsweek International and the International Herald Tribune. His Op-Eds and book reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, amongst other papers.

Tharoor began writing at the age of 6 and his first published story appeared in the “Bharat Jyoti”, the Sunday edition of the "Free press Journal", in Mumbai at age 10. His World War II adventure novel Operation Bellows, inspired by the Biggles books, was serialized in the Junior Statesman starting a week before his 11th birthday. Each of his books has been a best-seller in India. The Great Indian Novel is currently in its 26th edition in India and his newest volume, The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone has undergone five hardback re-printings there.

Tharoor has lectured widely on India, and is often quoted for his observations, including, "India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay." . He has also coined a memorable comparison of India's "thali" to the American "melting pot": "If America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali--a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.".

Personal life

Tharoor is known for his passionate interest in cricket, especially Indian cricket, about which he has written in such publications as The Cricketer International, The Illustrated Weekly of India and The Hindu. A theatre buff and successful actor in his schooldays, he played Antony to Mira Nair’s Cleopatra in a 1974 production of Antony and Cleopatra. At St. Stephen’s in the early 1970s he founded the Quiz Club, which is still in existence; he also revived the Wodehouse Society, which is no longer in existence. Upon election as President of the College Union (campaign slogan: “Shashi Tharoor jeetega zaroor”) he relinquished the Secretaryship of the History Society as well as the editorship of the campus humour magazine “Kooler Talk.” He was invited by St. Stephen’s College to deliver the college’s 125th Anniversary Jubilee Lecture in 2005. He has been an elected Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities and a member of the Advisory Board of the Indo-American Arts Council. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Breakthrough, an international human rights organization, the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Institute, and as an International Adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross. He also supported various educational causes, including as Patron of the Modern School in Dubai, UAE. He is a member of the Indian National Congress.

At the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1976, he founded and was the first chair of the editorial board of the Fletcher Forum of International Affairs, a journal examining issues in international relations .

Tharoor has two twin sons from his first marriage, Ishaan and Kanishk. Both attended Yale University. Ishaan writes for Time magazine's international edition in Hong Kong, while Kanishk is an editor at openDemocracy in London.

Controversies

Tharoor confronted public anger for his article 'India's Israel envy'
in which he was never bothered about the Indian public's strong feeling for the Palestinian cause. This was actually led to be a powerful campaign weapon against him during his contest in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the Thiruvanathapuram constituency.
In September 2009, Tharoor and S M Krishna were accused for staying in luxurious 5-star hotels . Tharoor defended the accusation, saying that he spent from his own pockets for the accommodation . Later on Pranab Mukherjee's request Tharoor and Krishna moved out of luxurious hotels.

A controversy erupted over Tharoor's infamous "Cattle Class" remark on Twitter where he taunted the Congress' austerity drive . It was also reported that Congress may take action against him.. However this was subsequently resolved when Tharoor met his party leadership and offered them an explanation.
Another controversy erupted on Gandhi Jayanti when he said people should be working rather than staying at home thereby paying real homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

Awards and recognition

• In 1976, at age 20, he won the Rajika Kripalani Young Journalist Award for the Best Indian Journalist under 30.

• In 1990, he won the Federation of Indian Publishers-Hindustan Times Literary Award for the Best Book of the Year for The Great Indian Novel, which also won a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1991 for the Best Book of the Year in the Eurasian Region.

• In 1998, Tharoor was awarded the Excelsior Award for excellence in literature by the Association of Indians in America (AIA) and the Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP).

• He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in International Affairs from the University of Puget Sound in May 2000 and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Bucharest, Romania, in May 2008.

• In January 1998, he was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a “Global Leader of Tomorrow.”

• In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India’s highest honour for non-resident Indians, but did not accept it at the time owing to UN rules prohibiting acceptance of governmental honors. He went on to accept the award in 2007, after having resigned from the position of Under Secretary General at the UN.

• In January 2009, Tharoor was awarded the Zakir Hussain Memorial "Pride of India" Award. He was presented with the Hakim Khan Sur Award for National Integration by the Maharana of Udaipur on March 15, 2009.

Bibliography

Fiction

• Riot (2001)

• Show Business (1992)

• The Five Dollar Smile and Other Stories (1990)

• The Great Indian Novel (1989)

Non-fiction

• Shadows Across the Playing Field: Sixty Years of India-Pakistan Cricket [with Shaharyar Khan] (2009)

• The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cell Phone: Reflections on India in the 21st Century (2007)

• Bookless in Baghdad (2005)

• Nehru: The Invention of India (2003)

• India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997)

• Reasons of State (1982)

Illustrated books

• Kerala: God’s own country (2002)[with artist M.F. Husain]

• L'Inde (French) and India'' (English) (2008) [with photographer Ferrante Ferranti]