In the wake of recent events, what’s happening with Shashi Tharoor will need much more than 140 characters of Twitter analysis! You could of course say ‘Storm in a Teacup’, ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ – or ‘There’s More to This Than meets the Eye’. All would be essentially correct.
Reams have been written in the Indian media and globally about Shashi Tharoor’s recent problems, the IPL scandal, and his relationship with Sunanda Pushkar. Those of us who have known Shashi Tharoor as a New Yorker over the years feel a sort of kinship, an ownership over him but do we know – or even understand – the full story? If we take it from the viewpoint of the faceless masses riding the crowded local trains or waiting on line for drinking water in urban slums, does the story take on a different hue?
Look at his tweets on the day of the elections, May 16, 2009 and you see what a tidal wave of hope and good will swept him into office. He writes, “Looking good! My lead has crossed 30,000 with half the votes counted.” Later he tweets, “I have won with a majority greater than any Congress candidate in Tvm in 30 years…truly humbling.” “Still sinking in – a majority of over 100,000 votes!”
Yet another tweet on that day: “On a victory tour of my constituency – amazing scenes of exhilaration – already hoarse from thank you speeches!”
With so many hopes invested in him, did Tharoor with all his great gifts and qualifications have an obligation to set higher standards for himself and not waste a golden opportunity?
“Madam Speaker, I am proud to have helped the consortium come to Kerala, a state which has long been excluded from participation in India’s cricketing resurgence,” he told the Lok Sabha on May 16 after the IPL scandal dominated all else. “ I have neither invested nor received a rupee for my mentorship of the team. Irrespective of my personal relationships with any of the consortium members, I have not benefited, and do not intend to benefit, in any way financially from my association with the team now or at a later stage.”
Yet even when one one’s house is in total order, just the mere impression of impropriety can be damaging. Sometimes it seems there is something to be said for reflection, for thinking before acting, for looking at the larger picture. In other words, think before you tweet, introspect before acting.
Having interviewed Tharoor over the years, one understands that he is an idealist, a diehard dreamer with his heart very much in the right place. Yet sometimes that’s not enough. With absolute power comes absolute responsibility, a necessity to be above the fray, to hold oneself to a much higher standard than the average glitterati and chatterati class, the nouveau riche of India.
Tharoor could use these missteps as a learning-on-the-job experience, and by focusing on his raison d’etre – to serve the people of India – chart a different course for himself, fully utilizing his tremendous talents, his innovative energy and his generous heart for the greater good. To strive to be like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might be a good start.
Indians living in America have had lots to say about their man Tharoor. “Yesterday a good, honest man was made a sacrificial lamb on a stage packed with politicians with skeletons in their past, hugely wealthy businessmen, movie stars, suggestions of sexual scandal, gossip material churned out by the media, and the popular sport of cricket that time and again gets tainted by allegations of wrong doing,” writes Aseem Chhabra in Rediff.com.
“ Shashi Tharoor’s resignation as a minister of state is a shame for India just when the nation is inching towards being accepted as a global power and a true democracy.” You can read the full article here.
What do you think? Inquiring minds would love to know.
(Photos courtesy: www.Tharoor.in)
4 Comments
I am a diaspora Indian. I have read many of Shashi’s works. I sincerely believe in my heart that Shashi should be accorded much much more appreciation and respect shown to him. In the motherland, Shashi is way way above those in his party who try to belittle him. Pray his chance will come soon!
Here is my Take:
Shashi Tharoor: A Dream Catcher and Vanishing Dreams
A few years ago Shashi sat on a gold mine which could deliver him anything he wanted. A successful UN diplomat with impeccable credentials from Tufts University and high literary accomplishments, he dreamed of becoming Secretary General of UN. He almost made it but fell short in the Big Boy’s Club of permanent members. No one saw his fault in such a loss and he sailed for India – his home – in order to find new directions in life.
He was a “blue-eyed” young man for his party which he joined to realize a new ambition at home. It was a match made in heaven. All of it happened at the stroke of a pen without much labor from his own hands. He was served on a silver platter with a Lok Sabha seat from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He won for the first time anything like this so quickly in Indian politics.
When he was made the Junior Minister of External Affairs, it was no surprise. He had all the forces in the political circle pushing him forward to reach the skies. Soon he became contender for the premiership in future & he had his youth, scholarship and following rooting for him. So what went wrong so quickly?
It was a plain and simple example of self-destruction in quick succession. He is a very smart young man with all the leadership qualities. But his “I know everything” type of arrogance & cockiness became the hallmark of his approach and his “larger than life” ambitions blinded him completely. He wanted to reform some problems in society but without learning about them and by living in his own shell that had a different sets of standards than what his constituents were living in. He found his comfort in his shell but made all others quite uncomfortable.
His first strike was hurting public sentiments by comparing Aam Janata with domesticated animals. Then he lived extravagantly while preaching to others to live within the means. He also marginalized the decisions of his superiors by criticizing them publicly, which is not acceptable in most political systems.
His IPL franchise adviser-mentor role became the last straw for his party to bear the burden of one man’s role in such damaging events. Shashi should have remembered that his new role here was not the same as in the UN where it was more or less a representation to a debate platform. He needed to lead by example in his new career.
Shashi himself became the focus, instead of his work speaking for him. Shashi and Sunanda may be ready to walk together for the third time (for both) but their work is cut out for avoiding a third strike now. Both can learn from this spiraling event in their personal lives.
I second your thoughts totally. Shashi is a scapegoat in the larger picture. He may have even objected to money laundering …there is more to this than that meets the eye…where’s our Indian Deep Throat now?
Thank you, Shashi, for erupting so spectacularly. After all the ash has fallen, and the dust has settled, others who step forward will know not to emulate the errors you made, while striving hard to copy your successes 🙂