The first time I came to know about the name Shashi Tharoor was through the 'Shashi Tharoor column' that used to appear weekly in the Hindu newspaper. Though I was a regular reader of his columns, I came to know about his real credentials and malayali roots only later. As a writer he had managed to impress many of us. Then with his impressive tenure at the UN where he raced up the ranks to the top job of under secretary general and then lost narrowly to Ban Ki Moon in the secretary general elections. After quitting UN, he continued to write extensively in dailies and also penned some best selling books.

So, when the candidate list for the general elections this year was announced, I was in for a pleasant surprise. Shashi Tharoor was contesting, that too from my home constituency Trivandrum. Its for the first time that we are getting to vote for a person with a proper vision for what he plans to do in his contituency. And this vision ain't hollow either. His main advantage is that he's not your 'standard' politician, the one made out of the template mixed with illiteracy, corruption and arrogance. We have here a soft spoken gentleman with vast experience the world over in various capacities and a much broader world view than most of the local politicians who can't think beyond their group, leave alone the party or the state.

But, then as with everything, the skeptics have an opinion here too. They call him an outsider, an NRI who doesn't understand our culture. They make fun of his malayalam langauge skills. Daily I get chain mails from communist supporters with loads of criticisms levelled against him. There was this allegation about his hand in the chest salute during the national anthem. Am not sure about the details of this case and if its true he must be blamed. But, its time we thought beyond those trivial matters and think on the lines of who will be more beneficial to us. The latest allegation from the left is that Tharoor is an American agent. He has given them a fitting reply-“Frankly, there is an irony in it. When America vetoed my candidature for the UN secretary general, Prakash Karat (CPI-M general secretary) wrote an article in Peoples Democracy condemning the American stand. Another expert in Deshabhimani (CPI-M mouthpiece in Malayalam) wrote on similar lines. But without any embarrassment these people now go on saying that I am an American agent”. Then, there was this allegation of his sudden change in attire to dhoti and khadi shirt. Whats wrong morons? Why do you care if he wear a dhoti or suit? I can guess your next criticism- 'He changed his usual red underwear to green'. Another popular one is about his divorce and subsequent marriage to a Canadian. Didn't he do it in the perfect legal way? Also, its his own personal life. Atleast, he's not invloved in any sex scandals unlike some of our illustrious insiders. There are more smear campaigns going on regarding the cover of one of his old books, the use of national flag in his site and many such trivial matters.

I don't have any party leniency. So the decision to support him was quite easy to make considering the credentials of his own opponents. But if this prediction is to be believed, then its gonna be a tough task for Tharoor. Am sure, most of the blogger votes will go to him. But that doesn't make up the real numbers. For that we ned to educate those around us on why his winning the election is important for the future development of Trivandrum. Also its important not only from the perspective of Kerala, but also India as a whole. This will send a strong message to the parties and they will come up with more educated people like him in the future elections. So, get ready to vote..Jaago Re. Lets give the so called 'outsider' a chance. And see if he can do better than our own 'insiders' who have achieved nothing commendable in the near future. What has the malayalam speaking MPs achieved till now? Lets see what he can achieve with his almost perfect malayalam(still broken for critics) and more than perfect english.


PS- Am on a 9 day vacation from morrow. Vishu, elections and the rising mercury will be a heady mix.

PPS- Do drop into my photography blog everyday- Myopic lenses
And also dont miss the great news here. The official website of A.R.Rahman'S concert in Calicut, Kerala on May 3 - http://www.keraleeyamarrahmanliveconcert.com/

your crusader Praveen