WILL SHASHI THAROOR MAKE IT?

Jaishree Misra is a Malayalee (Keralite). She is a renowned English fiction writer. There are four or five works to her credit. More than that, she is the grand daughter of well-known author, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, who the Malayalee writers and readers hold dearly to their hearts. His “Chemmeen” (Prawns), a love story based on the lives of fisher folk, their toils and sorrows, their intricate relationships, hopes, aspirations and also frustrations are very well portrayed in the novel in the backdrop of a sea. Chemmeen was made into a film in the 60’s, which won universal acclaim and rave reviews across the World. It was awarded Gold Medal of Indian President in 1965 for the best feature film. Jaishree Misra might have seen and enjoyed the film-the tragic love story of Karuthamma and Pareekutty- several times and felt proud about her grandfather. As long as mankind keep love in their hearts, this novel and the film based on it will be here to stay.

Thakazhy was a great lover of the poor, the middle-class farmers of Kuttanad and fisher-folk and was very well acquainted with their problems and was one among them. Rusticity was his blessing and was very adept in illuminating the sylvan surroundings of Kuttanad and adjacent areas. In fact rustic charm was the hallmark of his writings.

Jaishree Misra is now based in London. Once, twice or thrice a year she makes it to her native land to spend and enjoy happy days with her mother and dear ones, who are settled at Thiruvananthapuram.

The other day I happened to go through an article penned by Mrs Misra.

An author’s love and affinity to a fellow author is understandable. It is quite natural. In the matter of enmity and jealousy also- it is natural. Affinity and Jealousy are two sides of the same coin. After all, we are all human beings- a bundle of contradictions.

Her affinity towards Shashi Tharoor is not surprising. At a moment when her novel on Rani Lakshmibai went controversial and the people of UP (Uttar Pradesh) burnt Mrs Misra in effigy and also the copies of her controversial book, Shashi Tharoor contacted her and offered his sorrow and solidarity with her and spoke about the importance of right to freedom of speech and expression for a writer. Mrs Misra felt elated.

Really laudable.
Mrs Misra recalls the incident while writing on Tharoor’s candidature from the Thiruvananthapuram Loksabha constituency.

Mrs Misra expresses her concern on coming to know about the opposition to his candidature from some quarters. She is of the opinion that instead of protesting against his candidature, the entire electorate and the leaders should spread out a red carpet of hospitality to an international celebrity of Mr.Tharoor’s stature. The office of a former Under Secretary General of United Nations was certainly a feather in his cap. According to her, we should have felt honoured and welcomed him with open arms in the typical Malayalee way.

Mrs Misra should have the courtesy of realizing the reason behind the opposition to his candidature from certain quarters.

It is not because he was born in London. Not because he lived with his parents elsewhere in India. Yes, Mr. Tharoor is a well-known writer. He held important positions abroad for a long period and brought fame to the nation. No one is going to dispute these facts.

After quitting his job at UN, he made Dubai, his abode. In Dubai, our respected candidate established a company named Afraz which is exclusively for importing pipes to USA, as per reports.

A person hailing from Palakkad is supposed to be aware of the plight of the poor people of Plachimada Panchayat of the same district should have displayed his solidarity with them for the struggle they are waging for the last seven years against the multinational giant Coca Cola to shut down their manufacturing unit. The entire Plachimada Panchayat and its people are literally enduring hardships due to the acute scarcity of safe drinking water on account of unscrupulous exploitation of underground water for manufacturing Cola. A drought like situation is prevailing in the Panchayat because of this ecological plunder. A man of Tharoor’s stature ought to have joined the people of the Panchayat but instead he has no qualms in justifying the multinational company. Really shameful.

Moreover Mr. Shashi Tharoor has no experience at the grass-roots level as a Congress worker. While many youngsters who worked day in and day out for the Party suffered assaults at the hands of police men and are well-educated waiting in the wings, I do not think it proper on the part of Congress leaders to have selected a candidate who still keeps a neo-liberal mindset even after the global down-turn.

Mrs Misra even finds time to point out the achievements on the economic scenario. It is a good joke! Her heart brims with joy and pleasure when other nations across the World admire the “growth” of Indian economy. More than enough from a writer who flies to Kerala once or twice a year to spend her days and to relish sweet moments with friends and relatives!

If her grandfather were alive today, he might have had a hearty laugh over the foolish notions of his granddaughter about India.

If Mrs. Misra were to spare a few days and travel across the length and breadth of the country particularly rural India, she wouldn’t have dared to shower lavish praises on the “new shining face” of India.

A glimpse of the prevailing conditions in our nation could be captured if Mrs Misra took time to go through the Booker Prize Winner- “White Tiger”- by Aravind Adiga, an young Indian writer.