Manu S Pillai and Dr Shashi Tharoor

Manu S PillaiWriter and historian Pillai won the 2017 Yuva Sahitya Akademi Award for his debut book The Ivory ThroneHis third nonfiction The Courtesan the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin Tales from Indian History released in 2019I was 18 when I read his India From Midnight to the Millennium which led me quickly to more of his books I remember being quite struck by how he had managed a distinguished UN career alongside a successful life as a writer But no not then nor when he won his first election in 2009 did I think I would work with him That happened quite by chanceI had finished my studies in London in August 2011 and was wondering what to do next I was already working on my first book The Ivory Throne and knew I would need to find a job in Delhi so that I could access the National Archives But to be more exact it was at London airport that I first saw Dr Tharoor He was boarding a flight to Delhi and I was on the other side queuing up for Mumbai And thats when I thought Why not send him an email and ask if there is an opening at his office So on the last day of August I checked his website wrote to his former private secretary Sandeep Chakravorty now Consul General in New York who in turn forwarded my email to Dr Tharoor I didnt have much of a CV thenmdashno internships no summer jobs nothingmdashbut Dr Tharoor replied the next morning Funnily enough more than my CV it was the way I had drafted my email that he liked and he agreed to take me on as an internI worked with him for a year then for his 2014 election campaign and then in 2015 and 201617 I began as something resembling a general assistant and ended up as chief of staffmdasha title invented as the team grew and more talented people began to join Im 29 now and I do sometimes wonder where eight years wentPeople are often impressed by his speeches his clarity of expression his books and overall personality But I think what has stayed with me all through is his infinite energy and appetite for work Since I had no place to stay in Delhi he gave me space in one of the several outhouses at his official residence and I remember looking from my window and finding the light in his study on even at 2 am and sometimes later And that more than anything left an impression As I said I was also working on my own book and seeing him every night at his desk kept me motivated to hammer away on my own laptopIn 2014 when he was fighting the elections the odds were stacked against him The press was unkind there was personal tragedy he had to cope with People were saying the nastiest things to which he could not respond there was a genuine anxiety about how things would turn out And yet every morning by 6 am when I reported at his flat in Thiruvananthapuram hed be up and already in meetingsNot once did I see him express any personal discomfort More importantly I have rarely seen him lose his temper The only time he caused his team stress ironically was when between all the heat and tension of the campaign he glimpsed a bit of cricket on a television somewhere the elections were thrown to the wind and for several precious minutes he would refuse to move while the rest of us ran around in a panic wondering how to unglue him from his favourite sportWe stay in regular touch After I left the office in 2017 following my latest stint we chatted on the margins of an event in Kochi and then again in Germany But I think after all this time the intervals dont matter muchmdashhe knows what I have been up to and I am still on the office WhatsApp group with the result that whenever we meet there is always a lot to discussDr Shashi TharoorServing his third term as MP from Thiruvananthapuram Dr Tharoor is also a former international diplomat and 2019 Sahitya Akademi award winner for An Era of DarknessHe was just 21 when we met My first impressions were of someone evidently smart wellspoken welleducatedmdashbut also with a maturity of bearing and personality well beyond his years The fact that he was a Malayalamspeaker was also a factor I had none in the Delhi office and I was an MP from KeralaHis performance from day one was hugely impressive He was able to do far more than any intern ever had and do it better than much of my regular staff I tested him by asking him to draft emails for memdashsomething I had never allowed anyone else to do before himmdashand he was flawless He won my trust very quickly and I decided to regularise him on my staffManu is fairly private about what he is doing in his personal time and I am one of those people who respects privacy and doesnt presume to ask I knew he read a lot of history was researching the life of the last Senior Maharani of Travancore an interest that took him to Bengaluru once in a while but he didnt particularly seek advice and I didnt offer it when it was not solicited Like my own sons I think Manu is sensitive to the risk of being perceived as somehow growing in my shademdashand I want to make it clear that his accomplishments are entirely his own I did not even see the manuscript of The Ivory Throne until after HarperCollins had set it in print and sent him the proofsYes of course I have read all his books I like them all but my favourite remains the first book The Ivory Throne for a number of reasons First the scale of ambition and the level of accomplishment is remarkable especially in so young a historian Second because despite my somewhat paternal interest in Manu and my faith in his work I was quite unprepared for its excellence I remember sitting down one night after dinner to read it thinking I will read the first few pages and skim the rest before going to bed just to get a sense of the book it was a heftier tone than I had bargained for and I had a busy morning the next day Two hundred enthralling pages later it was past bedtime and I couldnt put the book downmdashI kept reading till I had finished it about 4 am This is the third and fourth reason there isnt a better more readable history of Travancore available in English and Manu makes history come alive through the fluidity and richness of his prose His is historywriting at its most evocative with an eye for the telling detail and an ear for the amusing anecdote Hes a joy to read and he will bring the joy of historical narrative to thousands of otherwise jaded people who think history is a dry subjectIm proud he has asked me to launch each of his books in Delhi and Im happy to do soHe has grown enormously in stature success and critical acclaim and I am very proud of him I hope he is not embarrassed to hear me say that he has in many ways been a surrogate son to memdashwith both of my own twins settled in the US and leading their own professional lives I turned to Manu for the professional and personal support and loyalty I might have expected from and extended to a third son had I had one It has been amply fulfilled on two occasions when Manus successor was seriously incapacitatedmdashonce by a major illness and once soon after in an autorickshaw accidentmdashManu bailed me out by deferring his own work and filling the breach until she had recovered I feel lucky hes in my life and he knows he will always have my blessings as he goes on to evermore spectacular successesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates