Suresh Subrahmanyan is a Bengaluru-based former advertising professional
Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor is very much in the news these days for sundry reasons. Mostly positive, unless you are a Congress Party member deeply suspicious about this star parliamentarian from Kerala stealing the party’s thunder. His party bosses are not taking very kindly to his singing hosannas to the ruling dispensation, and Narendra Modi. And, of our defence forces for the way the recent conflict with Pakistan has been handled.
This is being viewed as the ‘unkindest cut of all,’ tantamount to sleeping with the enemy.
To be clear, Tharoor’s praise for our doughty men (and women) in uniform is fine. It’s the other comments that rankle. To make matters worse, Tharoor is leading one of many delegations across the world to present India’s side of the Indo-Pak conflict and to put right the canards that our neighbours have been so mendaciously spreading about Bharat. The umbrage taken by the Congress in Tharoor’s selection is to do with the fact that he is not the party’s first, second, or third choice. Anyhow, Tharoor and his colleagues have reached foreign shores and their eloquent presentation of India’s case is there for all to see.
This is where I move on to the nub of my narrative. Tharoor happens to be good looking. While I am in no position to corroborate the general view that women swoon over him, it will come as no surprise if that was the case.
Somebody recently put out a short video clip on social media of a press conference which left no one in any doubt. A lady of unedefinable origin sprang up to ask Tharoor a question. Only, in the guise of a question it was more of a gushing, blushing, over-the-moon young correspondent who could not stop wondering how her hero could be so good looking and also, so brilliant, so eloquent etc. Thankfully, Tharoor did not blush, and ascribed his good looks to his genes drawing laughter and applause. He attributed his oratorical skills to reading, hard work and constant practice which comes through addressing and interacting with live audiences. Consummately handled, as you would expect from a former diplomat.
Dear reader, if I have dwelt at length on Mr. Tharoor, it was only to make a larger point, and his being on our front pages and television screens in recent times was merely a convenient introduction to the subject. The moot point is, what has looks got to do with anything? This is where I leave Tharoor to happily wallow in his rarefied world of fandom and move on to other parallels.
Some years ago, my wife and I were holidaying in the UK and lodged in a pretty Somerset village with an English couple. While we scoured the historic ruins of the village during the day, evenings were spent in front of a fireplace chatting and, at times, watching tv. On one occasion, we were treated to a civilised debate involving a couple of intellectuals on the subject: ‘Does God exist?’ One of the speakers was a lady, the archetypal Plain Jane. But here is the twist in the tale. She was an outstanding speaker, mouthing brilliant aphorisms, quoting Shakespeare, Chaucer and Blake at will and slipping in the occasional sardonic put-down at one of her fellow panelists. In the end, she won the debate hands down. Her looks did not even enter our minds. Until our English friend, piped up with, ‘She’s not just a pretty face, you know.’
Banter aside, here is where I come from. You could resemble a handsome prince and yet be a total blockhead. Come to think of it, are all princes handsome? Are they intelligent? Think about it. Take Tom Cruise for instance. He is not a prince but he is good looking. Blonde, brown or black hair depending on the role he essays, chiselled features, beguiling smile, the man has it all. But do we really know if the man has brains? Mind you, I am not suggesting that Tom Cruise has no brains in real life. I am merely speculating that we do not know and therefore should not be taken in just by his looks.
All of which brings me right back to where I started from. India’s enviably articulate Shashi Tharoor, a man of many parts, who has been satirised to death for his eloquence by all and sundry, but in the final analysis, is much loved and respected among a vast majority of Indians and foreigners across all age groups.
Clearly the Prime Minister and his closest advisors saw fit to rope him in to “speak the speech trippingly on the tongue” to international audiences in a style that they will understand us better and, hopefully, put Pakistan’s curiously successful propaganda to shame. A task that has thus far proved beyond the capabilities of Mr. Modi’s current crop of spokespersons. Shashi Tharoor is handsome. Let us not hold that against him. After all, handsome is as handsome does.
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