Book Review Launch
“But you are in Calcutta, Shashi…so you are going to get a debate rather than a celebratory book launch,” Shashi Tharoor was told at the launch of his book on Indian foreign policy, Pax Indica, in the city. Indeed, instead of being a cordial affair which book launches usually are, this event was more of a critical review in the presence of the author himself. But the critics were mostly friends and fellow intellectuals and the former Indian foreign ministry official didn’t seem to mind at all. He grinned his trademark grin as he was grilled by his companions on stage on everything from views expressed in the book to what has not been addressed. The chief guest at the book launch was Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan, who made no “politically-correct” secret of his disagreements with Tharoor, taking up 15 minutes instead of the 5 allotted to him for his speech to the delight of the audience who thoroughly enjoyed the debate. The governor, who is a former National Security Advisor and Intelligence Bureau Chief, said that he had already read the 450-page tome, much to the delight of Tharoor. One of the points where Narayanan said he differed from Tharoor was the author’s approach to ties with Pakistan. “I don’t agree with you Shashi that we need to go the proverbial extra mile with Pakistan,” he said. However he did praise the book for its “encyclopaedic analysis.” If the debate was riveting, one remark from former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, had the audience in splits. “There is something very common between Shashi and myself. You know what it is,” quipped the politician, alluding to Tharoor’s ouster from the foreign ministry after the cricket scandal broke and his own unceremonious dismissal from the railway ministry. Looks like Trivedi is having the last laugh.