With a career sprawling over four decades, Indian politician and writer Shashi Tharoor has penned a number of books on diverse themes. Promising yet another page-turner, Tharoor released Pride, Prejudice and Punditry on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
The book launch, organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation, took place at ITC Maurya, New Delhi, wherein Tharoor was in conversation with Indian novelist and publisher David Davidar. The launch took place as a part of the foundation’s initiative ‘Kitaab’ that seeks to celebrate the birth of a book. The initiative attempts to organise book launches in order to provide a stage to writers that can help them showcase their works of literature before a discerning audience.
Published by Aleph Book Company, this book is considered to be Tharoor’s magnum opus—a comprehensive compilation of his literary work, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry pieces as well as a few of his unpublished writings—thereby giving readers an insight into his life and intellect. The hour-long conversation touched upon an array of events from his life along with his writing process. It was followed by questions posed by the audience.
“This book includes a tasting of my different kinds of writing. By reading this book from cover to cover, one can decide which ones you want to read properly,” said Tharoor when asked about the favourite book he has written till date. Talking about his views on writing, Tharoor said, “You really need to be able to reach people, and you cannot reach people effectively if you are not understood.
So I try, as far as possible, to use words that are appropriate to convey the idea that I wish to convey and, at the same time, are understood by a majority of readers.”Pride, Prejudice and Punditry also contains a few poems that Tharoor has penned in the memory of his late wife Sunanda Pushkar. Though melancholic, the mellifluous style in which Tharoor delivered the poetry resonated thoroughly with the audience.