Shashi
Tharoor ( Born 1956, London) is the United
Nations Under Secretary General for Communications
and Public Information.
Apart from being a reputed author and journalist,
Tharoor is also a fellow of the USC Center
on Public Diplomacy.
His
roots:
The people of Elavancherry ,Chittilancherry
villages and Shashi Tharoor's family in the
Palakkad district are elated at his nomination
as India's candidate for the post of Secretary
General of the United Nations.
His
father, Chandran Tharoor, hails from the `Tharoor
Tharavad' of Chittilencherry, and mother,
Lily, from `Mundarath Tharavad' in Elavancherry,
near Kollengode.
Dr.
Tharoor had last visited his relatives in
December 2004 when he delivered the Endowment
lecture at Victoria College in Palakkad.
According
to his uncle, Mukundan Unni Shashi was a prolific
reader from childhood. "We used to go
for picnics with family members to hill stations
such as Nelliampathy.
When others went for a trek or swimming in
the waterfall, he used to climb a hill to
read a book," Mr. Unni said.
 Dr.
Tharoor's grandmother Jayashankini Amma said
he was very fond of her and telephoned her
frequently despite his busy schedule at the
U.N. His mother Ms. Lily lived with her till
last year when she left for California to
be with her daughters Shobha and Smitha.
Mr.
Unni said Dr. Tharoor was fond of Malayalam
classical songs and liked Kerala food.
In
his job at the U.N., Dr. Tharoor regularly
interacts with people and replies to their
letters, said Mr. Unni adding that he studies
the problem in detail and makes his own assessment.
This will make him a good Secretary General,
if elected to the post, Mr. Unni said.
He is the father of twin sons.
Source
: The Hindu
His
Education:
Shashi Tharoor had his education
from Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi (BA in History,
St. Stephen's College), and the United States.
He completed his Ph.D at the age of 22 from
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at
Tufts University in the United States.
His
UN careers :
- Since
1978, Tharoor has been working for the United
Nations, serving with the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, whose Singapore office he
headed during the "boat people"
crisis.
-
Since October 1989, he has been a senior
official at the United Nations headquarters
in New York, where, until late 1996, he
was responsible for peacekeeping operations
in the former Yugoslavia.
-
From January 1997 to July 1998, he was executive
assistant to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
-
In July 1998, he was appointed director
of communications and special projects in
the office of the Secretary-General. The
same year he was named by the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a "Global
Leader of Tomorrow".
-
Mr. Tharoor is an elected Fellow of the
New York Institute of the Humanities and
a member of the Advisory Board of the Indo-American
Arts Council.
-
In January 2001, he was appointed by the
Secretary-General as interim head of the
Department of Public Information.
-
On 1 June 2002, he was confirmed as the
Under Secretary General for Communications
and Public Information.In this capacity,
he is responsible for the communication
strategy, enhancing the image and effectiveness
of the UN.
-
In 2003, the Secretary-General appointed
him United Nations Coordinator for Multilingualism.
Literary career:
 He
has an amazing appetite for words. Often from
early morning to midnight he works at his
computer, getting up only for meals. "I
write for the same reason a cow gives milk!
It's what I do. And as with a cow that isn't
milked, a writer who doesn't write would be
in serious danger of imploding." There
is no such imminent danger for Shashi Tharoor
though. He has written more books than many
have read in a lifetime. He also has "more
ideas" than many have cared to put down
in words. Yet he prefers to call himself "a
weekend writer" who manages to sneak
in some time in the evenings for writing!
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