Frankly, Shashi Tharoor deserves better!

Frankly, Shashi Tharoor deserves better! I simply couldn't understand the media-created brouhaha. Also, I feel that there was no need for him to exhibit his anger in the press conference. He could have simply given journalists a copy of his brilliant “Nehru: The Invention of India" and had asked them to come back with questions, if any, only post reading the book! (Wonderful platform for advertisement! The sales of the book would have skyrocketed! ... Just joking :) ... I took out his "Nehru" from my almirah last night and re-read the preface and the concluding chapter in order to refresh my memory with the beautiful journey of "Re-invention of India" before writing my opinion here.

It is sad to see Shashi Tharoor get into unnecessary controversies repeatedly and then spend his time and energy in explanations and apologies. The fault is not entirely his. However, he is himself to be blamed a great deal.

Shashi Tharoor should understand that he has an enviable status and people, especially Media, would be ever eager to exploit that for their own benefits. In today's 24x7 news environment and mushrooming news channels, all vying to grab the eyeballs in order to increase/maintain their TRP, a personality like his becomes a favourite fodder! And his tweets have satisfied their appetite regularly! He is their latest and the current TG - Target Group - if I may use the popular corporate parlance! They have got a replacement for their erstwhile favourite TV-friendly personalities like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rakhi Sawant. (I do not mean to demean him by associating his name in the same context as that of Rakhi Sawant's but I am just trying to explain my viewpoint.) … The best thing for him to do would be to maintain a respectable distance from the otherwise highly alluring media as it is a double-edged sword!

Though I found his "cattle class" remark a bit arrogant and also did not agree with his attitude of tweeting his “difference” of opinion on an official matter on a social networking site (the entire world will collapse if everybody started exercising their democratic rights on Twitter or Facebook!), but I wholeheartedly support him on this "Nehru" controversy. I repeat: frankly, Shashi Tharoor deserves better!

Shashi Tharoor is the most suitable person to handle the ministry of external affairs. His 3 decades of rich international diplomacy experience (he should recall his lessons fast in order to survive in the murky political landscape of India!) will come handy to him in redefining India's otherwise archaic foreign policy. He has the capabilities to soon reach to the status of a few able ministers like P. Chidambaram. He just needs to get his perspective right.

I use my blog page to suggest him something at the cost of making him even very angry with me.

The time Mr. Tharoor spends on reading his half a million plus followers' tweets and posting his own, he should utilize the available time to write a book. He is amongst the select few rare Indian authors in English who are worth reading! In fact I strongly believe that if he gave enough time to writing, his books could be in the league of Nobel laureates! There is a purpose in his books (I especially liked India, Nehru, Great Indian Novel and Riot). Rest all authors are a complete waste of time and I feel that their books should be sold with a "money back guarantee"! Shashi Tharoor’s admirers will be really happy to be able to read a "real" book of his (not compilations of newspaper articles as in "Elephant..." or a hasty job in "Shadows...")! ... At the same time I wish him all the success in his political career, as well! Best of Luck!

Hope NOT to see him in news any time soon for any further controversy!

P.S.: Pl ignore my blog if you found it preachy and a running moralistic commentary on complete nonsense.

Minister Twitter's Tweet-22

To Tweet or Not Tweet?!

I start with stating a fact: I am a great fan of Shashi Tharoor! Therefore, my views as an individual on the recent Twitter controversies is an honest attempt to understand the whole thing comprehensively, which also has expressions of concern embedded for him – all done as his sincere and selfless admirer - and nothing more.

“To Tweet or Not Tweet” will apparently become a dilemma with Shashi Tharoor as he lands himself in difficulty quite frequently with his tweets! As an individual I fully support his rights to indulge in his hobby. However, what I do not approve of – again, my personal opinion as an Indian citizen; remember he is our minister-of-state for External Affairs – is his obsession with tweeting! He seems to have got carried away with the number of “followers” on his twitter page which has crossed half a million mark, the highest for an Indian. I too am his “follower” in that sense of the term! And so is his Boss, SM Krishna, and here, on the Twitter site, they both are on the “same page”, at least!

As a hobby if Shashi Tharoor uses twitter for posting his views on myriad and mundane subjects of the world including his personal life, that should not be anyone’s concern. But it looks like he has got a bit disillusioned: he often treats his tweets as a tool to “remain in touch” with the aam aadmi! He forgets he is a minister and that he cannot – and should not - conduct his ministerial work in a public forum. He is not a newspaper columnist, anymore! He is a responsible member of the council of union ministers!

Imagine, if in the name of “democratic rights” – inspired by Shashi Tharoor, of course - every member of the UPA government – ministers, MPs – starts using numerous social networking sites – Twitter is one such site – to express views on government’s policies etc., what will happen to the overall functioning of the Indian administration? I also wonder if Shashi Tharoor will ever exercise his “democratic rights” – as his “followers” would like to put it – against the Prime Minister or his party’s President? I am sure he must be having many points of disagreements with them too. I already see Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi reach out for Saridon!

Or, for that matter - just stretching my horizon of imagination a bit in the hindsight – would Shashi Tharoor have used Twitter to comment on his UN boss Kofi Annan or the colossal body’s mostly controversial functioning? No, I am sure of that.

Therefore, I wonder why our highly competent minister has forgotten all his diplomatic lessons. He is after all an accomplished international diplomat. No one can understand it better that politics, like diplomacy, is a sensitive subject, which needs to be conducted in a matured manner. And a ministerial post is equally sensitive, and responsible. I do not blame SM Krishna for using the media – a public forum – to reprimand his deputy; he was clearly hugely miffed. Any Boss, in every field, would get wild at the “wild” acts of his junior! (The world will collapse if everybody started using Twitter to conduct business!) Shashi Tharoor himself will not like any of his staff member adopt such ways.

Moreover, he has just started out in the field of politics. He has to establish his credentials here too; his fan following from his author days or his “followers” will not help him much in the long run. Media attention to his tweets should not blind him. After all, he has enjoyed – and continues to – the “limelight” for ages. Also, his party superiors may find difficult to defend him every time. As a minister he should concentrate more on his actual work rather than get distracted by a trivial thing as Twitter. He has all the necessary skills to get counted as the best ever foreign minister; he simply has to reapply himself in his job, fulltime. I am sure, even SM Krishna realizes Shashi Tharoor’s worth. Otherwise, with anybody else, for similar “transgressions”, he would have acted really tough. And so would have the Congress.

Therefore, tweet Mr. Minister as much as you like, but remember that you are capable of being much more than just a “Minister Twitter”; do not let those 140 alphabets control you, or get you “out of control”, as your Boss would like to say!

Happy Tweeting :)