‘ THERE’S MUCH MORE THAT I WANT TO DO’
MP and author Shashi Tharoor is happy that his book on Hinduism is being turned into a multilingual web series that will reach out to a wider audience
Parliamentarian, academic and writer Shashi Tharoor is now actively involved in an ambitious multilingual web series based on his much lauded book Why I Am A Hindu.
Tharoor says he agreed to the web series because he believed in the producer. “When ( producer) Sheetal Talwar came to me, I liked his conviction. He made no tall promises, but he assured me that the essence of my book would be captured in the series. I have not read the screenplay yet, but I’m confident that it will do justice,” says Tharoor.
He adds, “There are many misconceptions about Hinduism in the current times and I want my thoughts to reach out to a wider public than the one afforded by a book. It is important to me.”
Interestingly, Tharoor, who deals simultaneously with his parliamentarian duties, has authored a large volume of fictional and nonfictional works. “If we include the book that is coming out in the next few months, it adds up to 17 books,” shares Tharoor, who adds, “I’ve various other duties and obligations, including an ongoing legal battle to prove my innocence in a case where I’m being made out to be a person that I am not.”
Cinema is one of the pleasures that he has forfeited in the pursuit of his other interests. Says Tharoor, “In the past few years, my work as a parliamentarian and my writings have occupied a large part of my time. Then there are various other imperative pursuits. For these, I’ve given up many pleasures including cinema and cricket. But there is no regret over these losses.”
Further, he is a man who takes his responsibilities seriously. “I cannot be a rubberstamp politician. Politics is a tool for me to try and improve the status quo to the best of my abilities. Likewise, my writing,” says the Member of Parliament, whose next book on the four years of Narendra Modi’s government is all set for publication. Being known to be a voice of dissent, does the author- politician foresee controversy over his new book?
He replies gently, “Not from the readers. However, I can’t predict how the government in power would react to the book. Nowadays, any hint of dissent is frowned upon by the government, and any criticism of the government’s policies, no matter how healthy and just, is taken as an attack on individuals who run the government. This was not the case when we, the Congress were in power. Criticism of the government was in fact, encouraged then. Now when we are in the Opposition, the rules have changed.”
Even Tharoor’s tweets are perceived as works of art, carved and polished with the most chiseled words.
Taking the compliment graciously, he says, “The truth is, I don’t toil over the tweets. The medium demands brevity and one has to say things in the shortest possible way.”
Meanwhile, with the ongoing case against him, Tharoor admits that the bandwidth of his creativity has somewhat shrunk. “There is much more that I want to do. But current circumstances restrain me from expressing myself fully. The one reassurance in this whole situation is that the people I meet do not seem to believe what I am being accused of. Wherever I go, I am met with the same warmth and goodwill that I experienced before,” he concludes.
“There are many misconceptions about Hinduism in the current times and I want my thoughts to reach out to a wider public”