INTERVIEW WITH SHASHI THAROOR - II

Who : Shashi Tharoor
About : Famous Author, Former UN Under Secretary General to Kofi Annan, International Diplomat
Website: http://www.shashitharoor.com/

How it happened : Interview with Shashi Tharoor
Interview Date: April, 2006
Place: Kitab Fest, New Delhi
Pics : None

Shashi Tharoor is a man of many facets, of many talents. Not only is he the Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information of the United Nations(and the youngest one at that), a highly prestigious post at unarguably the most esteemed humanitarian organization in the world today, but Mr. Tharoor is also a writer par excellence. He is the author of eight books, predominantly Indian in their theme and feel, which feed his undying love for his country.

After receiving his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University at an early age of 22, Mr. Tharoor joined the United Nations in 1978, and in the 28 years since, he has occupied many an important posts, from serving as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to being responsible for peacekeeping operations in Yugoslavia. He has also served as the executive assistant to the Secretary General, Kofi Annan and since June 1, 2001, he has been lending credibility to his current post.

An author of numerous articles and short stories in Indian and Western publications alike, Mr. Tharoor is also a recipient of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1991 for his widely acclaimed political satire, ‘The Great Indian Novel’. He was named as a ‘Global Leader of Tomorrow’ by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 1998. In New Delhi to attend the ‘Kitab Fest’, a first of its kind literary convention, he takes out time from his extremely hectic schedule for a quick chat.

Nikhil Taneja (NT): You have been an NRI most of your life. But your books have a distinct Indian flavour. How do you manage to bring that about?
Shashi Tharoor(ST):One’s basic sense of place and of a society and of a culture is formed during the years that you grow up. And having had schooling in Bombay, high school in Calcutta, college in Delhi and parents who came from villages in Kerala to which I went back to every year,I do have a fairly strong sense of my roots and I have friends every where in the country. So its not an academic or foreign or learned awareness of India. It’s an India that I feel on a pulse.

I would say I'm an Indian writer who happens to live in New York. In both my fiction and non fiction writing, my primary focus has been on things that matter to me about India. I have criticized and applauded India and that is only because I myself belong to it. I would not be able to do so with any other country and get away with it. I have always maintained that geography is merely a circumstance.

NT: What made you join the United Nations?
ST: As a child, I had a fair amount of interest in International Affairs. I would have probably joined the Indian Foreign Service but the Emergency dissuaded me in more ways than one. So I went ahead and joined the United Nations because it represents the aspirations of mankind for a better world and a better future and this was my way to serve the world and indirectly, perhaps, serve my nation.

NT: How are you able to manage your two careers and your family life simultaneously?
ST: With great difficultly. Because part of the problem is that my UN work obviously takes precedence and as a result, the amount of time available for writing is very limited. I used to write evenings and weekends. My evenings have long since disappeared, and my weekends too… there are times when I have to travel very often and then there are times when I come back from travel and I have to catch up on my backlog. But there is another challenge, which is particularly difficult, which is that as a fiction writer, I find that I need not just time, but a space inside my head, to create an alternative universe, populated by characters, people, situations that are as real to you as the ones you deal with in real life. And when the situations that you are dealing with in real life are so all encompassing, you find it difficult to create that space in your mind to do these other things?

NT: And what about your family?
ST: It's challenging to manage everything, yes. But my sons are grown up now and I do take out time to meet them as often as possible. But it was tough when they were smaller and I was working in Yugoslavia in the civil war. I would see them only in the morning and then head off to work and would just follow a routine each day.

NT: You’ve done peacekeeping work and are a part of public relations for the UN now. Which do you prefer and why?
ST: Well, I think the common thread in all my assignments – refugees, humanitarian.. uhh.. peacekeeping and my work at the Secretary General’s office has been my faith in the United Nations as an institution that in fact, actually serves the larger interests of humanity, precisely because through what it does, makes a difference in ways that no other institution can. And in that spirit, I found it very useful in whatever I have done to keep that central objective in mind.

Right now, my department of public information, yes, is trying to put up the message of the organization across, but in the work that I have done for the United Nations, I’ve found myself doing a lot of things that are not even publicly known, because by trying to solve problems the key issue is what steps can you take to solve the problems and challenges of today?

NT: What would you say is the primary focus of the United Nations today?
ST: We can’t ever confine ourselves to just one. We’re always doing a number of dozen things at one time. But there’s always been a tremendous importance attached to development, the alleviation of poverty, but human rights has grown enormously in importance and human rights development and democracy are completely intertwined, because in fact, democracy ultimately is about individuals finding the opportunity to fulfill their own potential… but they cant fulfill their own potential without the (pauses) development possibilities, that enable them to fill their bellies and, and look after their families. In other words, human rights are fundamental but human rights start with breakfast (chuckles).

So we have to try and get all these things together at the same time. And our work in the area of peace and security, peacekeeping operations, our efforts on terrorism and so on, are all part of this larger picture.

NT: What would you say are India’s chances to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council?
ST: The chances are very thin, very thin. The structural framework of the U.N. poses a problem for changes in its various committees. If at all changes should take place and all the permanent members agree on it, it would take not less than another ten years before it is made possible. I would say, as of now, India should run for an elected non-permanent seat.

NT: And what would you say are your chances on becoming the U.N. Secretary General?
ST: I wouldn’t bet on it ! (Chuckles)

NT: What would you advice those who aspire to become world leaders like yourself?
ST: (Chuckles) Well, I would say that to keep an open mind to learning about the world is very important. Also, you should be able to deal with and learn from the situations that you confront in your day to day work. You should be actively interested in world affairs, of course. If you have a special interest and you care about the world then there is no better organization to help you in your aspirations than the U.N.

But you have to be very patient because in this line the results would follow only slowly. Always remember to be able to adapt and accept different points of views because there are almost always solutions better than you would be able to provide at any point of time.

NT: And finally, what would you tell budding authors who want to follow in your footsteps?
ST: Keep working. Keep at it. Keep writing. There is no other way. This is one profession where DOING is achieving.

© Nikhil Taneja (nikhiltaneja@gmail.com)