Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an author, politician and also a Member of Parliament, of Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. since 2009. He was born in London on 9^th March 1956 to a Malayali family of Chandran Tharoor andLily of Palakkad, Kerala.

His father worked in London, Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay for various posts, and had a fantastic 25-year career for The Statesman. His paternal uncle Tharoor Parameshwaran, was the founder of Readers Digest in India.

When his parents returned to India, he was in boarding school at Montford School, Yercaud in 1962. He further moved to Bombay studying in Campion School from 1963 to 1968. Tharoor spent his high school years in Calcutta at St Xavier’s Collegiate School from 1969 to 1971.

He pursued Bachelors of Arts (Honours) in History from St Stephen’s College, Delhi. Then in 1975, he attended The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, United States to pursue his graduate studies, where he received his MA and MALD and was also awarded the Robert B. Stewart Prize for Best Student. He also obtained his Ph.D. at the age of 22.

Tharoor began his career in the United Nations as a staff member for UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, 1978. He managed the UNHCR office, as its head from 1981 to 1984. In 1989, he was appointed as special assistant to Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.

After that, he was appointed as an executive assistant to the then Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1996. He was also appointed as the director of communications and special projects. In January 2001, Tharoor was appointed as Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and as a Head of the Department of Public Information (UNDPI).

On April 2007, he left the UN. He was a frequent contributor to the Newsweek International and writes an internationally syndicated monthly column " India Reawakening" for Project Syndicate. Tharoor contested for Indian General Elections in 2009 for Congress Party in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. On May 28th, he was sworn as Minister of State for External Affairs.

He was the highest followed Indian political-personality on Twitter till 2013 after which he was overtaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the same title. He is widely recognized for his marvellous eloquence while speaking and his speeches have been appreciated by the people.

Shashi Tharoor was able to rebuild the diplomatic relationships with various countries as the Minister of State for External Affairs. He resigned from his post as a minister in April 2010, following the allegations of using his position for buying IPL shares. In 2014, Shashi Tharoor won his re-election from Thiruvananthapuram and was removed from the post of Congress spokesperson for praising his party's opponent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.