Saturday, May 2, 2009

Shashi Tharoor

Written on: 1st May '09
Edited on: 2nd May ‘09

When I first read about him he was India’s candidate for the UN Secretary in 2006. I think he was the first Indian candidate for that particular esteemed post, if not so, I had a very strong notion that he was the first one and so I was more excited about it. Reading all the write ups about him in the daily newspapers (was not lucky enough, back then, to have an internet connection at home) I started following the advancement of the process. I was eagerly waiting for the elections, to see what the outcome would be. Yes, of course I wanted him to win; he being an Indian and me too an Indian, can’t give you all a better reason why I was biased for Mr. Shashi Tharoor. Then I got busy with my upcoming marriage which being of utmost importance to me, I gave up the follow-ups on the elections.

My new life and the birth of my lovely son, Shivansh, kept me so busy that I completely forgot about Mr. Shashi Tharoor and his electoral race in the UN. When just few days ago while reading news I came across an article heading something like ‘Shashi Tharoor, Indian National Congress contestant for the Trivandrum constituency in Kerala’; I don’t remember exactly what the heading was but it mentioned him as an INC candidate. Elections were close in India, I knew that and so many Indian bigots were in the race but how come Shashi, and what of his UN elections. Is he the same man I am thinking of? So many questions popped up in my head and I clicked on the news to read more. There I saw him in a picture; bowed head, smiling face and hands joined in front of an elderly woman, wearing a white dothi kurta. Just like any other Indian politician before the elections, he seemed nothing different from the people he was running this new race with. I was happy and I was disappointed. Happy because according to me a brilliantly qualified man like him entering Indian politics can bring a long awaited change in India. Disappointed, what if he turns out to be like the rest of his colleagues? The article read - Shashi a rich, educated but humble political candidate of India.

Today I was reading one of his interviews for Economic Times and the comments on that write up. They were comments for him and against him.

People were basically against him because they thought, how could a man of his profile know about the problems of a common man? He has lived most of his life out of India, how will he be able work here. “I got my formal residency here, dropped the ‘N’ from the ‘NRI’ tag I’ve been carrying all along, got my ration card and voters’ registration card well before contesting the polls.”, was his reply when asked, ‘what his home address was now after having his base in so many cities around the world?’. Not wrong for a person to think what good Mr. Shashi, as a MP, is for a country full of people living below poverty line and in the middle class section. Will he be able to work with them and for them? Will he be able handle the hard core politics of India? Will he ever get to understand the system and upon knowing it will he be able to work for it his own way?

There is a point in all this, it matters when an outsider stands in the polls. After all, election is not a joke.

On reading his resume one thing is clear for sure that he can work for the poor and needy because he has worked for ‘boat people’ and he has worked as a peacekeeper in the UN. If he can work for poor, he can also work for the middle class and above. So the main reason for not liking him as a politician is omitted. Ok, if you don’t find this point of mine strong enough just think of this; a highly qualified man, who has seen the world, has experienced so many cultures and worked in so many systems. He has set so many benchmarks and worked hard in his life, to come up to this position. He, who is a renowned author, peace-keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist and now if he is becoming a political candidate for the Indian parliament, is he not bringing a change with him.

A baby step maybe but yes it would be a step towards a bright future, only if he wins. Just think what if more people like him start joining politics which till now is a taboo for people of his stature. Won’t we have more people who will think of development of India rather than their own development? Won’t we have more sensible and deserving people to vote for? Only if he is able to bring a little change in the small constituency he is representing, then a little change in Kerala and then some day a little change in India. From these small ripples maybe a wave of such changes will start and then maybe politics in India will not be associated with ‘goondaism’. Maybe then people may have politicians as their role models.

He who had the whole world in to go but he left all to enter into the dirty politics of India for some good purpose. Support him and vote for him. Give him a chance.

To read more about Mr. Shashi Tharoor go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashi_Tharoor

http://shashitharoor.in/english

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