What should we think of Shashi Tharoor?

When I entered St Stephenrsquos College SSC Delhi University DU as a student over three decades after Dr Shashi Tharoor graduated from the institute I realised he was a revered figure still And not just for being a prolific writer The Great Indian Novel Tharoorrsquos adaptation of Mahabharat framed around the independence movement was popular in its nth reprint alreadyThe enduring story on campus even if slightly apocryphal was about how Tharoor had once headed the collegersquos prestigious Shakespeare dramatics Society Debating Society Quiz Club that he founded and the Studentsrsquo Union simultaneouslymdasha distinction yet unsurpassedThat he was the college union president is now wellknown Apparently late journalistpolitician with the BJP Chandan Mitra was his campaign manager Slogan lsquoShashi Tharoor jeetega zaroorrsquo Campus elections could be a stepping stone for a political career especially if itrsquos not your family professionOnly that unlike other DU colleges elections in SSC are held internally Meaning the candidates with zero budget at their disposal do not belong to studentsrsquo wings of national outfits such as NSUI Congress ABVP RSS etc They stand on individual meritmanifesto aloneSSC is also the only DU college that holds interviews rather than admitting students based only on academic scores Is that why so many socialextracurricular achievers school headboysgirls make it at onceA topranker in class throughout college Tharoor had won all major intervarsity debates in the country barring Mukarji Memorial SSCrsquos own championship that he didnrsquot contest in We know he played Mark Antony to Mira Nairrsquos Cleopatra for Shakespeare Society Nair at DUrsquos Miranda House then hated kissing him on stagemdashfor all the hooting from audiences that followedWith greyblue eyes Dev Anandlike demeanourmdashthe way he flicks his hair sideways Tharoor mustrsquove been quite the star in his youth I know hersquod principally said yes to play the lead in a film around 2012 that actor Rajat Kapoor did laterNair told me that even in college friends used to poke fun at Tharoorrsquos Anglicised twang ldquoWersquod say he got it because his mother flew over England when she was pregnant But hersquos always been a sport used to take it wellrdquoWhile born in London because his fathermdasha salaried corporate executivemdashwas posted there Tharoor has been entirely schooled in IndiamdashBombay Campion Calcutta St Xavierrsquos Today I learnt that when he was a postgrad student in the US writing pieces across desi publications he won the then coveted Rajika Kriplani prize for lsquoyoung journalist under30rsquoIt must be empathy for this profession that he generously allowed me to interview him first when I was barely in my early 20s and he was undersecretary general at the United Nations UNmdashalso throwing some lsquocolourrsquo for my copy over how actor Venessa Redgrave was just on the phone with him etcThe setting was his staid sarkari office at the UN headquarters in Manhattan I asked him if he aspired for the UN secretary generalrsquos job He said a flat nomdashsubsequently standing for the toppost in 2006 placing second to Ban KimoonThat thereafter Tharoor a diplomatwritermdashhersquos published 23 booksmdashreturned to India to join active politics seemed an anomaly Chiefly because from afar Indian politics appears heavily loaded against firstrate socialacademic achievers with multiple interests and a life Which is also a reason most of them stay away Of course therersquos a place for the highly educated in Indian politicsmdashitrsquos usually routed through the backdoor such as Rajya Sabha or lateral entries as technocratic ministersadvisers in governmentpartyAlso major politicians with direct public appeal currently yoursquoll notice have built their popularitystanding working groundup in their home state first over years The incentive to do so for entrylevel rank outsider with professional options isnrsquot particularly high in political parties especially regional They donrsquot exactly work like democraciesmdashalthough the elections they consequently fight doNavigating the sameparty system social mediasavvy to the core watering his own roots Tharoor won three backtoback direct Lok Sabha seats for the Congress in Thiruvananthapuram when most of his colleagues lostmdashmany of their deposits forfeited jamanat japt So much for being the lsquoelitersquo even Mahatma Gandhi wasThis when hersquos endured barbs on Hindi skills English vocabulary misinterpreted jokes on airlinersquos lsquocattle classrsquo placing hand over heart during national anthem and other such trivia Worst of all IPL controversy and mysteries surrounding his wifersquos deathWhat kept him going I asked Tharoor over an email interview in 2017 ldquoFocus Kofi Annan once told me citing a Ghanaian proverb If sharks bite you donrsquot bleed Donrsquot give sharkssnakes who abound in public life the satisfaction of seeing you sufferrdquoWhat next Tharoor is standing for Congress party president As it is with say Conservatives in the UK or primaries in the US when was the last time anybody stood for such a position in any Indian political party including the BJP Canrsquot recall right away All such positions are secured by ldquoconsensusrdquo euphemism for diktatReportedly Tharoor was asked by the opponent to go with ldquoconsensusrdquo too He didnrsquot Arenrsquot parties in democracies without proper elections like governments without an oppositionmdashdictatorships tooWhether lsquoTharoor jeetega zaroorrsquo or not he makes politics feel like SSC elections about merit and manifesto still Thatrsquos a startMayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture He tweets mayankw14Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper