Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor

"In writing of Indian culture, I am highly conscious of my own subjectivity; arguably,

there is more than one Indian culture, and certainly more than one view of Indian culture."
-- Shashi Tharoor (HAPR)

Introduction

As a diplomat and writer, Shashi Tharoor has explored the diversity of culture in his native India. By exploring the themes of India's past and its relevance to the future, he has produced both works of fiction and nonfiction. In reaction to his works The Great Indian Novel and Show Business, Tharoor has been referred to as "one of the finest writers of satirical novels currently operating in English" (Shashi Tharoor). Though his works are pointedly satirical and comedic, Tharoor contends that his novels "... are to some degree, didactic works masquerading as entertainment" (HAPR). His most recent work, India: From Midnight to Millennium, is a nonfiction account of India's past and projected future inspired by the 50th anniversary of India's independence.

Biography

Shashi Tharoor was born in 1956 in London and educated in Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi (BA in History, St. Stephen's College), and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (Shashi Tharoor 2).

Since May 1978, Tharoor has worked for the United Nations. He served over 11 years with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, whose Singapore office he headed during the "boat people" crisis (SAJA). In October 1989 he was transferred to the peace-keeping staff at the United Nations Headquarters in New York (Shashi Tharoor 2). In this position, he served as Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations. Dealing with a range of issues in this capacity, Tharoor addressed a variety of peace-keeping issues around the world and led the team responsible for the United Nations peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia (Shashi Tharoor 2). On January 1, 1997 Shashi Tharoor was appointed Executive Assistant to Secretary of the United Nations Kofi Annan (Shashi Tharoor 2).
As an author, Shashi Tharoor has written many editorials, commentaries, and short stories in Indian and Western publications (SAJA). In addition, he is the winner of several journalism and literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers' Prize (SAJA).
He is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London, the India International Centre in New Delhi, and the American PEN Center (SAJA). He is also an elected Fellow of the New York Institute of the Humanities 1995-96 (SAJA).
Shashi Tharoor is married to writer Tilottama Tharoor and is the father of twin sons (SAJA).
The Author in His Own Words
On his earning his Ph.D. at age 22: "I finished my Ph.D. at 22, but I had a powerful incentive: fear. I was terrified that my scholarship would run out while I was halfway though research and I would spend the rest of my life working too hard to find the time to write it. The day I got to the States on a scholarship I was earning more (after conversion to rupees) than my father earned in India to support a family of five in what most people would consider style" (The Shashi Tharoor Chat).
On his call to write: "I have far more book ideas than books, or evenings and weekends to write them in. Basically I see myself as someone with a number of responses to the world, some through my work" (The Shashi Tharoor Chat).

About his writing method: "I do it on the computer. I tend to write pretty fast (and no doubt unkind critics will say it shows)...with all of my books I have known bursts of frenzied writing on weekends when I've woken up and written pretty much straight from 7 am to midnight, pausing only for meals and tea. So you see that my working methods are not to be recommended to any sane writers out there" (The Shashi Tharoor Chat).
On Indian subcontinental literature: "I think the general crop of Indian writers in English is amazingly good. I think they're doing some of the most exciting, innovative writing being done in English today, breathing new life, new concerns, and yes, new language into English literature" (The Shashi Tharoor Chat).
On Indian expatriates: "...his [the expatriate's] nostalgia is based on the selectiveness of memory...his perspective is distorted by exile... his view of what used to be home is divorced from the experience of home. Expatriates are no longer an organic part of the culture, but severed digits that, in their yearning for the hand, can only twist themselves into a clenched fist" (in The Washington Post).
On Indian nationalism: "Indian nationalism is a rare animal indeed. It is not based on language. . .geography. . . ethnicity. . . religion. Indian nationalism is the nationalism of an idea, the idea of an ever-ever land that is greater than the sum of its contradictions" (Tharoor The New York Times).
On Indian diversity: "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" (Srinivasan).
On the United Nations: "I believe the UN is still the one indispensable world organization we have. Sure there are wars going on, but the UN can only stop those wars where it has a mandate to do so, which means the parties are willing (or persuadable) to stop...Within those limitations I think we have a pretty good track record" (The Shashi Tharoor Chat).
Works
Reasons of State (1982), a scholarly study of Indian foreign policy making
The Great Indian Novel (1989), a political satire which interprets the Mahabharata as India's modern history
The Five-Dollar Smile and Other Stories (1990), a collection of short stories
Show Business (1992), a satire of the Bombay film industry which was subsequently adapted into the motion picture "Bollywood"
India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997), a historical commentary of India published on the 50th anniversary of India's independence.

Works Cited
Coll, Stephen W. "A Nation Comes of Age." The Washington Post 3 Aug. 1997, X05.
Goldman, Robert. P. "The Great Bharata War in Recent Film and Fiction." On-line. Indiastar. 12 Feb. 1998. http://www.indiastar.com/goldman1.html
Kamath, M. V. "Sashi Tharoor's India: From Midnight to the Millennium." On-line. India World Short Stories. 23. Mar. 1998. http://www.indiaworld.co.in/subscribe/rec/stories/jan21-98kamath.html
Rajay. "Reviw of The Great Indian Novel: A Twice Born Tale. On-Line. Panwala Web. 16 Feb. 1998. http://www.panwala.com/greatnovel.html
SAJA (South Asian Journalists Association). "Bio of past SAJA guest speaker Shashi Tharoor." On-line. SAJA. Columbia University. 1997. 12 Feb. 1998. http://moon.jrn.columbia.edu/SAJA/shashi.html
"Shashi Tharoor." On-line. Rutgers University. 1997. 12 Feb. 1998. Notation in text: (Shashi Tharoor). http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~lcdean/about/tharoor.htm "Shashi Tharoor." Serve.Com. 1997. 12 Feb. 1998. Notation in text: (Shashi Tharoor 2). http://www.serve.com/netipaus/shashi.html Srinivasan, Rajeev. "Freedom: An Interview with the author of India: From Midnight to Millennium." On-line. Rediff On The Net. 1997. http://www.redifindia.com/freedom/08tharur.htm Tharoor, Shashi. "Growing Up Extreme: On the Peculiarly Vicious Fanaticism of Expatriates." On-line. Mnet [from The Washington Post]. 12 Feb. 1998. http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/i_aii/tharoor.html Tharoor, Shashi. "India's Odd, Enduring Patchwork." The New York Times. 8 Aug. 1997. A31.
Tharoor, Shashi. "Whose Culture Is It Anyway? The role of culture in developing countries: an Indian writer's view." On-line. Harvard Asia Pacific Review (HAPR). 12 Feb. 1998. http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hapr/tharoor.html "What the Critics say about Show Business of 'Bollywood'." On-line. Arts-Online.Com Film. http://www.arts-online.com/videotv/bolywood/bolly3.htm
Links to articles by/with Shashi Tharoor on the web
"Confronting Ancient Animosities" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-01/25/084l-012598-idx.html
"Growing Up Extreme: On the Peculiarly Vicious Fanaticism of Expatriates" http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/i_aii/tharoor.html
India: From Midnight to Millennium, the entire text of chapter one http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/indiafrommidnighttothemillennium.htm
"India's Odd, Enduring Patchwork" http://www.englishfirst.org/indianytimes.htm
"India, Poised to Become an Economic Superpower" http://www.positiveindia.com/articles/ecosuperpower.html
"Whose Culture Is It Anyway?"http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hapr/tharoor.html "India Turns 50: A Transcript of an interview with Shashi Tharoor" by David Gergen http://www.pbs.org/newshour/gergen/august97/india_8-17.html

FONTE: Shashi Tharoor

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