5 times Shashi Tharoor revealed an interesting aspect of his persona on stage

One cannot speak of Shashi Tharoor without speaking of how he is one of the best orators the country has seen in a while. Silver-tongued, charming, witty, and humorous his speeches at parliament and Literature festivals have the audience spellbound every single time, and not even his worst critics can deny that. Representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency, he is a formidable politician, speaker, author, and poet. However, he has other interesting aspects to his personality too, and here are 5 times, Shashi Tharoor revealed them:

On November 4, 2023, Shashi Tharoor was in Aizawl, Mizoram, to campaign for the Congress candidates for the upcoming assembly elections. He attended a cultural program at Vanapa Hall, where he was invited to join popular Mizo singer Sangtei Khuptong on stage. He danced, clapped, and hummed to a Mizo song called ‘Di Ruk Te’, meaning ‘secret crush’. He also asked the singer the meaning of the song and admitted that he had a secret crush too. He later said that it was the most fun he had in 15 years of politics.

On November 5, 2009, Shashi Tharoor was in Mysore, India, to take part in the TEDIndia conference. He gave a TED Talk on the topic of why nations should pursue soft power, which he defined as the ability to share one’s culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood, and other forms of expression. He argued that in the long run, it’s not the size of the army that matters as much as a country’s ability to influence the world’s hearts and minds. He cited India as an example of a rising superpower that has used its soft power to enhance its global image and appeal. He also challenged the stereotypes and misconceptions that often plague India in the Western media and perception .

On September 6, 2021, Shashi Tharoor was in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, as part of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. He participated in a cultural programme by Doordarshan Srinagar, where he sang the classic Hindi song ‘Ek Ajnabee Haseena Se’ by Kishore Kumar. He occasionally looked into his phone for the lyrics, while the audience cheered and clapped for him. He shared the video of his performance on Twitter and received praise from many, including lyricist Javed Akhtar.

On May 28, 2015, Shashi Tharoor was in Oxford, UK, to take part in a debate at the Oxford Union on the motion “Britain owes reparations to her former colonies”. He was the seventh speaker in the debate, the final speaker from the proposition, and spoke for about fifteen minutes. He argued that British colonial rule damaged the Indian economy and society and that the supposed benefits of British colonialism were either constructed for the purposes of furthering economic exploitation or devised by Indians themselves. He won the debate by a landslide, with 185 votes to 56. He also showcased his formidable oratory skills, his mastery of facts and figures, and his ability to engage and persuade the audience with his humour and sarcasm.

On November 14, 2019, Shashi Tharoor was in Bengaluru, Karnataka, to take part in the ‘One Mic Stand’ show, where celebrities try their hand at stand-up comedy. He performed a 15-minute set, where he cracked jokes about his own vocabulary, his political career, and his personal life. He also made fun of his rivals and his critics and entertained the audience with his humour and sarcasm. He received a standing ovation from the audience who was half in love with him by the time his act was over.