This writeup consists of some personal opinions. I don't represent any political ideologies. These are some thoughts and it's a very random writeup. And yeah, I warn you, it's a bit too long.
I came to know about Tharoor through his fortnightly column in “The Hindu”. But later when he moved to TOI with his Sunday columns, I found him changing his style to theirs. It was a bit disappointing as I used to read and found him writing some hollow stuff and something was missing. For me, he transformed from "a prolific writer with some thoughtful and make-you-think opinions" to “just another writer with some petty observations”.
He was a UN official for about 24 years. Towards the end, he was the Under Secretary General (USGs), the designation which is just below Secretary General (SG), for multiple disciplines in UN. That means one can find many USGs in UN. During the campaign, rationalists raised their voice against Tharoor because he supported Sai Baba. But it is so insignificant in a country where each of us have faith and many who follow god-men and god-women. Obviously, he lost because of internal politics played in UN by US and European nations as Tharoor knew too much about UN and its internal affairs. As far as I remember and know (I may be wrong!), a person who lost UN SG post election cannot hold a post in UN again. And that’s what media reported then. But Tharoor claimed that the current UN SG asked him to join his team, and he denied it politely, which I still find a bit hard to believe. This happened even before he contested the May 2009 general elections.
In his book “India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond”, Tharoor writes about Mani Shankar Aiyar (who is another public personality with a 'scintillating' profile); “If people like him do not squirm at the prospect of pledging allegiance to a leader whose only qualification is to lead is the name on her marriage certificate, obituaries for the dynasty are premature indeed” (Page 26). The leader and the name in question is "Sonia Gandhi", whom Mr. Tharoor disregarded and showed so much discomfort to be seen as the leader of India’s biggest and the oldest political party and subsequently the nation. But when he became the chairman of Afras ventures, he became so insignificant as he did not get the public and diplomatic air time he used to get in the past. Then, when the call miraculously came from the “leader whose only qualification is to lead is the name on her marriage certificate”, he forgot what he himself wrote more than 15 years ago.
The Congress badly wanted to project their ‘changing’ (the random meaningless stuff they continue to generate) face. It was/is a political gimmick. Tharoor somehow got an own house in Thiruvananthapuram (I don't know if the Afras Academy for Business Communication has anything to do with this) and claimed himself a "pakka Malayali", when he describes himself otherwise again in the same book “India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond" (Chapter 3. Page 69 onwards). He even got a Voter Id within no time, which is still being debated whether it was illegally done or not. But suddenly he became the face of youth and changing India and our very own Malayali for the Keralites. Also, he became the force who was going to resurrect the state of Kerala from its 'backwardness' (Remember that except in Economic Growth, Kerala is an outlier among Indian states, in any other aspect). The anti-incumbency worked wonders for him as Keralites usually give such a person a warm welcome. He became one of the 16 MPs that was on the Congress side, but he was special and different.
His disconnect with the Indian sensibilities, pulled him to controversy when he tweeted “cattle class”, which is a common usage in English. In a country with almost 60-70% poor or people with poor backgrounds, it was considered to be a disrespect to the nation, by many (I too!). Our PM took it just as a joke (ha ha ha) and the chapter was closed. His five-star stay was another thing, his claim that he paid from his own pocket, is still unbelievable as appalling as it sounds. The “interlocutor” thing was a blooper from media. He connected with people on twitter, but not more than even 0.1% of the Indian population. His audience was enough for him to share his public life and to tell them what he did everyday. But no one realized that he was just executing his normal duties vested upon him. The ones who followed him thought he was doing something different, everyday. The tweet-ups made him approachable and meeting him in flesh and blood made people to believe what he says, whatever may be the truth. But he was just making a bubble of his own.
When the IPL controversy started, the same media through which he projected himself as “a reputed UN professional with an unblemished career track of 24 years”, he had to take a back foot when his role became more than just “mentoring”. The can of worms unleashed with Lalit Modi’s (That's another ball game altogether, which will be unveiled in coming days, I suppose) tweets and some desperate mudslinging from both sides trying to explain the facts and their roles made the erstwhile friends into foes of a lifetime. Will they patch up and go back to the status quo? That too is unpredictable considering the style of murky politics and the money behind all these. The angle of a woman in public life is still indigestible for India. Even the self proclaimed “progressive media” in print, internet and TV, shamelessly dug up the whole angle of “woman” and moreover the "beautiful woman (somebody reported her nose-job too!)" in the stories to increase their TRPs. The Congress too justified it by taking into account the “courting another woman, who may be his third wife, when he’s not yet divorced his second wife” and discussed in their ‘core’ (What does that mean, btw?) committee and asked him to put his papers down. And yeah, the rest of the action will be after the intermission and this short lull.
Tharoor is a publicity inviting person. His supporters and critics won't hold a different opinion here. He has lived his life through all the publicity he wanted and I don’t blame him if he’s publicity seeking. The problem is that we just know that Mayawati, Lalu and the likes are corrupt only because the media dubbed them so. Even now, they are yet to be proved. In a recent verdict, Lalu was even acquitted and SC told Bihar government that they can't appeal against his acquittal. But these news have no takers. We consider news only if it's what we like. We don't want see even our 37.2% officially declared poor. In a media who consider themselves educated and upper class, a dalit woman leader will make you uncomfortable. Okay, that doesn’t mean that they are corrupt or not corrupt. The problem is that they don’t connect well with the media the way we want to see as Tharoor does, who does it so fluently with his soft and literary skills. Mayawati doesn't even know English, but no one could win the most populous state on one's own, like she did. Now, when he is in public and connected than any other politician, he didn't take the care, which others take by staying behind the scenes and not being a very public face. When you are very much a public face, you will be more accountable for even very small things. When Sunanda Pushkar got rid of the “sweat equity”, it was dubbed as an admission of guilt, which went against him. But the Finance ministry clears him of any misdeed. Also, the non-support from Kerala Congress indicate that they were not happy with Tharoor hogging limelight when they worked hard till the elections. They just waited for their chance to make him step down, so they maintained the silence.
We can’t conclude whether he is corrupt or non-corrupt. May be, he just happened to be there at the wrong time. And we, including Tharoor, have to realize that Twitter is not the world. But, still everything one writes there, if not a protected account, is in public for everyone to see and interpret in their own ways. The discussions in government have to be done inside the government and any criticism or opinion has to be done by discussions there and not through twitter. And, the work that has been done is nothing special. Even if it’s more than what his predecessor has done, it’s his duty. Because, even when you are a representative or a leader, you are a public servant. At least you have to project such an image. He’s still the MP, the role in which he can do many good things for the people who have elected him as their representative in the Parliament.
So, what to conclude? He obeys the dynasty and the leadership that represents it (Page 23), which he criticized in the past (Sweet revenge from Sonia Gandhi, may be). His idiotic description and substantiation (Page 65) of the famous or notorious “Ganesha milk drinking” and his certificate of it being a miracle. His support to the Coca Cola in Plachimada, without realizing the truths. The illogicality of comparing Israel-Palestine situation with India-Pak situation. And his prolific profile. All these, speak of the man.
He was a UN official for about 24 years. Towards the end, he was the Under Secretary General (USGs), the designation which is just below Secretary General (SG), for multiple disciplines in UN. That means one can find many USGs in UN. During the campaign, rationalists raised their voice against Tharoor because he supported Sai Baba. But it is so insignificant in a country where each of us have faith and many who follow god-men and god-women. Obviously, he lost because of internal politics played in UN by US and European nations as Tharoor knew too much about UN and its internal affairs. As far as I remember and know (I may be wrong!), a person who lost UN SG post election cannot hold a post in UN again. And that’s what media reported then. But Tharoor claimed that the current UN SG asked him to join his team, and he denied it politely, which I still find a bit hard to believe. This happened even before he contested the May 2009 general elections.
In his book “India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond”, Tharoor writes about Mani Shankar Aiyar (who is another public personality with a 'scintillating' profile); “If people like him do not squirm at the prospect of pledging allegiance to a leader whose only qualification is to lead is the name on her marriage certificate, obituaries for the dynasty are premature indeed” (Page 26). The leader and the name in question is "Sonia Gandhi", whom Mr. Tharoor disregarded and showed so much discomfort to be seen as the leader of India’s biggest and the oldest political party and subsequently the nation. But when he became the chairman of Afras ventures, he became so insignificant as he did not get the public and diplomatic air time he used to get in the past. Then, when the call miraculously came from the “leader whose only qualification is to lead is the name on her marriage certificate”, he forgot what he himself wrote more than 15 years ago.
The Congress badly wanted to project their ‘changing’ (the random meaningless stuff they continue to generate) face. It was/is a political gimmick. Tharoor somehow got an own house in Thiruvananthapuram (I don't know if the Afras Academy for Business Communication has anything to do with this) and claimed himself a "pakka Malayali", when he describes himself otherwise again in the same book “India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond" (Chapter 3. Page 69 onwards). He even got a Voter Id within no time, which is still being debated whether it was illegally done or not. But suddenly he became the face of youth and changing India and our very own Malayali for the Keralites. Also, he became the force who was going to resurrect the state of Kerala from its 'backwardness' (Remember that except in Economic Growth, Kerala is an outlier among Indian states, in any other aspect). The anti-incumbency worked wonders for him as Keralites usually give such a person a warm welcome. He became one of the 16 MPs that was on the Congress side, but he was special and different.
His disconnect with the Indian sensibilities, pulled him to controversy when he tweeted “cattle class”, which is a common usage in English. In a country with almost 60-70% poor or people with poor backgrounds, it was considered to be a disrespect to the nation, by many (I too!). Our PM took it just as a joke (ha ha ha) and the chapter was closed. His five-star stay was another thing, his claim that he paid from his own pocket, is still unbelievable as appalling as it sounds. The “interlocutor” thing was a blooper from media. He connected with people on twitter, but not more than even 0.1% of the Indian population. His audience was enough for him to share his public life and to tell them what he did everyday. But no one realized that he was just executing his normal duties vested upon him. The ones who followed him thought he was doing something different, everyday. The tweet-ups made him approachable and meeting him in flesh and blood made people to believe what he says, whatever may be the truth. But he was just making a bubble of his own.
When the IPL controversy started, the same media through which he projected himself as “a reputed UN professional with an unblemished career track of 24 years”, he had to take a back foot when his role became more than just “mentoring”. The can of worms unleashed with Lalit Modi’s (That's another ball game altogether, which will be unveiled in coming days, I suppose) tweets and some desperate mudslinging from both sides trying to explain the facts and their roles made the erstwhile friends into foes of a lifetime. Will they patch up and go back to the status quo? That too is unpredictable considering the style of murky politics and the money behind all these. The angle of a woman in public life is still indigestible for India. Even the self proclaimed “progressive media” in print, internet and TV, shamelessly dug up the whole angle of “woman” and moreover the "beautiful woman (somebody reported her nose-job too!)" in the stories to increase their TRPs. The Congress too justified it by taking into account the “courting another woman, who may be his third wife, when he’s not yet divorced his second wife” and discussed in their ‘core’ (What does that mean, btw?) committee and asked him to put his papers down. And yeah, the rest of the action will be after the intermission and this short lull.
Tharoor is a publicity inviting person. His supporters and critics won't hold a different opinion here. He has lived his life through all the publicity he wanted and I don’t blame him if he’s publicity seeking. The problem is that we just know that Mayawati, Lalu and the likes are corrupt only because the media dubbed them so. Even now, they are yet to be proved. In a recent verdict, Lalu was even acquitted and SC told Bihar government that they can't appeal against his acquittal. But these news have no takers. We consider news only if it's what we like. We don't want see even our 37.2% officially declared poor. In a media who consider themselves educated and upper class, a dalit woman leader will make you uncomfortable. Okay, that doesn’t mean that they are corrupt or not corrupt. The problem is that they don’t connect well with the media the way we want to see as Tharoor does, who does it so fluently with his soft and literary skills. Mayawati doesn't even know English, but no one could win the most populous state on one's own, like she did. Now, when he is in public and connected than any other politician, he didn't take the care, which others take by staying behind the scenes and not being a very public face. When you are very much a public face, you will be more accountable for even very small things. When Sunanda Pushkar got rid of the “sweat equity”, it was dubbed as an admission of guilt, which went against him. But the Finance ministry clears him of any misdeed. Also, the non-support from Kerala Congress indicate that they were not happy with Tharoor hogging limelight when they worked hard till the elections. They just waited for their chance to make him step down, so they maintained the silence.
We can’t conclude whether he is corrupt or non-corrupt. May be, he just happened to be there at the wrong time. And we, including Tharoor, have to realize that Twitter is not the world. But, still everything one writes there, if not a protected account, is in public for everyone to see and interpret in their own ways. The discussions in government have to be done inside the government and any criticism or opinion has to be done by discussions there and not through twitter. And, the work that has been done is nothing special. Even if it’s more than what his predecessor has done, it’s his duty. Because, even when you are a representative or a leader, you are a public servant. At least you have to project such an image. He’s still the MP, the role in which he can do many good things for the people who have elected him as their representative in the Parliament.
So, what to conclude? He obeys the dynasty and the leadership that represents it (Page 23), which he criticized in the past (Sweet revenge from Sonia Gandhi, may be). His idiotic description and substantiation (Page 65) of the famous or notorious “Ganesha milk drinking” and his certificate of it being a miracle. His support to the Coca Cola in Plachimada, without realizing the truths. The illogicality of comparing Israel-Palestine situation with India-Pak situation. And his prolific profile. All these, speak of the man.
He may be a changing face for Congress (embarrassment now?), as they claim, but not for the nation. But, I too hope his political life is not cut short and he will make a come back as a minister, because he seems to be a lesser evil among all of them. Still, for me, he is just another normal and opportunistic human being with some fallacies. And, I don't conform to the call for supporting him because I have my own reasons.
4 comments:
Great post. You echoed my views in each and every sentence. Tharoor is a non issue for ppl of India
Good post. I couldn't see any achievements by Tharoor as a minister other than a lakh+ followers in twitter.
@Charakan
Just wanted to say that it was nothing serious for our nation as we have many other things to pursue. Share your thoughts too. :)
@Balu
Thanks da :)
I deliberately did not post abt Tharoor. Some of my other thoughts in my blog My Take .
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