1. Dr. SHASHI THAROOR
A kid who started writing at the age of six and
got his first story published at the age of ten. A
boy who became the youngest person, at the age
of twenty-two, to receive a doctorate in the
history of Fletcher School. A man who was the
most followed Indian politician on Twitter till
2013. Our very own “The DICTIONARY OF
THE PARLIAMENT” – Dr. Shashi Tharoor.
2. EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
● Shashi Tharoor was born on 9 March 1956 in London,
United Kingdom.
● He studied in Champion School, further completed his high
school education from St. Xavier’s Collegiate School in
Kolkata in 1971.
● Mr. Tharoor graduated from the St. Stephens College,
University of Delhi and also founded the St. Stephen’s Quiz
Club.
● He went on to pursue M.A in International Relations from
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford in 1976.
3. CAREER at UNITED NATIONS
● Mr.Tharoor’s United Nation career began when he was just 22 in
1978, as a staff member of UNHCR.
● From 1981 to 1984 he was the head of UNHCR office in Singapore.
● Later on in 1989 he was appointed special assistant to the Under -
Secretary – General for Special Politics Affair.
● As India’s candidate for UN secretary general to succeed Kofi
Annan in 2006, Dr. Tharoor mounted a spirited campaign and
ended up finishing a close second out of seven contenders.
● Tharoor resigned from the post of Under-Secretary-General on
February 9 2007 looking forward to another fold of his life after
giving 29 years of his life.
4. POLITICAL CAREER
● He contended his first election as a candidate for the
congress party from Thiruvananthapuram Kerala and
won with a huge margin.
● On, 28 May 2009, he was sworn in the minister of
state for external affairs.
● In April 2010, he resigned from the position because
of some allegations.
● But again in 2012 he was given the charge of HRD
Ministry in the DR. Manmohan Singh’s cabinet.
13th President of India Pranab
Mukherjee administering the oath
as Minister of State to Shashi
Tharoor at a Swearing-in
Ceremony, at Rashtrapati
Bhavan, in New Delhi on 2012
5. LITERACY CAREER
● Tharoor began writing at the age of 6, and his first
published story appeared in the Sunday edition of The
Free Press Journal, in Mumbai at age 10.
● In his career, he has written nineteen books in English.
● He has also been columnist for the some renowned
newspapers like The Hindu and The Times of India.
● Some of his books include “Why am I a Hindu?” “The
paradoxical Prime Minister”, “The Great Indian Novel” (1989).
● In 2019, Dr. Shashi Tharoor got the Sahitya Academy
Award for his book 'An Era of Darkness' in a non-fiction
category in English language.
6. HONOURS AND AWARDS
Mr.Tharoor has been the recipient of many national as well as
international awards. He has received total of seventeen awards.
Here are some of his achievements:-
● 1976 – Rajika Kripalani Young Journalist Award for the Best
Indian Journalist under 30.
● 1998 – Global Leader of Tomorrow, World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland
● 2004 – Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, India's highest honour
for non-resident Indians (accepted 2007)
● 2010 – "New Age Politician of the Year" Award, at NDTV's
Indian of the Year awards.
● 2013 – PETA's "Person of the Year".
● 2019 – Sahitya Akademi Award for his book, An Era of
Darkness: The British Empire in India
Mr.Tharoor receiving
Sahitya Akademi
Award,2019.
7. CONTROVERSIES & ALLEGATIONS
● He was accused of having abused his position to obtain shares in the Indian Premier League
cricket franchise for Sunanda Pushkar (later his third wife),due to which he had to resgin
from his post.
● Another, controversy of Mr. Tharoor as he acceded and praised Modi for the Swach Bharat
initiative, but for cooperating with the Congress party’s bitterest opponent, he was dismissed
as its spokesman.
● He was accused by his third wife publicly that he is having an affair with a pakistani journalist
Mehr Tarar, but later on they issued a joint statement of their happily married life.
● Murder or Sucide ? still a big question on Mr. Tharoor’s third wife's demise. Where Mr.
Tharoor stated that it was due to natural cause but their were some contradicting evidences
that came into picture.
