The year was 2008. Unless my memory is playing truant, it was a late afternoon on an ironically cheerful monsoon day. Neither was the sky downcast with clouds nor was the sun too harsh. Kochi's Jawaharlal Nehru stadium was jam-packed with Congress workers. Under heavy security cover, the stadium was brimming with activities as VIPs and senior leaders kept moving around. The then UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was set to arrive at any moment.
Sitting in the front row, next to ex-minister Pandalam Sudhakaran, sporting a blue kurta and a heartwarming smile, was a familiar face greeting one and all. Someone who has made Malayalis brim with pride on global platforms countless times. His was a name familiar to many, yet glimpses of his face could be seen only on mini-screens. Especially after his unsuccessful contest against Ban Ki-moon to become the next United Nations Secretary General after Kofi Annan. The one and only Shashi Tharoor himself.
We had a long heartwarming chat, standing on either side of the security barricade. I was pleasantly surprised when the former UN diplomat, on the verge of beginning his next innings in state politics, patiently responded to a flurry of queries from an young journo, on an array of topics, right from his UN tenure to his family roots in Kerala and the widely-speculated political entry into the grand old party.
Shashi Tharoor was at the time not yet part of Kerala's political circles. If I remember right, The New Indian Express was the first to report his political entry as a Congress candidate in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the state capital. Close to two decades after, Tharoor remains one of the most sought-after socio-political-literary figures not just in Kerala, but across the nation as well as on the global arena.
The senior Congress leader who turned 70 on Monday, remains one of the most charming and suave public personalities in the country. A giant literary figure with an ever-burgeoning fan-following across the globe, his political career till date has had all the trappings of a blockbuster Bollywood masala entertainer.
Currently the sitting MP from Thiruvananthapuram, where he scripted history by winning four consecutive terms facing a stiff contest from both the Left and the BJP, Tharoor is also one of the most popular social media celebrities, cutting across all sections of society. In a political career spanning 17-odd years, he has served twice as Union minister -- two different tenures in the Manmohan Singh government -- and is now heading the high profile Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
As member of the Congress Working Committee, Tharoor has had several run-ins with the party. His off-hand and seemingly harmless remarks like 'cattle class' in airlines have often led him into trouble unsought. Controversies are, not surprisingly, ever a constant companion for this intellectual giant. But to his credit, not once has he minced words, when it comes to airing his honest opinions.
Even while being part of the Congress, Tharoor has always maintained his individuality, be it airing his opinions on international affairs, showering praises on PM Modi when the occasion called for, or openly taking on his seniors in the party. At one point in time, he even took on the mantle of strengthening the party, fighting for internal democracy, by contesting for the post of Congress chief. Speculation has hence always remained rife that it was just a matter of time before he donned the saffron garb, an allegation that he has always categorically denied.
The past few years have seen this bureaucrat-turned-politician skillfully navigate the ever-shifting intrigues and subterfuges so innate to party politics, with characteristic ease and a keen sense of ground realities. Whether he can succeed in transforming the political arena into an enlightened spectrum of intellectual debate-oriented discourses, which he so loves to be part of, may remain a rhetorical question for long.
As both the country and his party gear up to face newer challenges head-on, the Shashi Tharoor brand lives on!