Shashi Tharoor

Dr. Shashi Tharoor Official, An elected Member of Parliament, former Minister of State for External Affairs and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Shashi Tharoor is the prize-winning author of twelve books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the classic The Great Indian Novel (1989), India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997), Nehru: The Invention of India (2003) and The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone: Reflections on India in the 21st Century (2007). A widely-published critic, commentator and columnist (including for The Hindu, The Times of India and Newsweek), Shashi Tharoor served the United Nations during a 29-year career in refugee work, peace-keeping, the Secretary-General's office and heading communications and public information. He has won India's highest honour for Overseas Indians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, and numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers' Prize. [For more on Tharoor, please see www.shashitharoor.in.]