PNN
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 15: Kolkata’s winter evening glowed with warmth and wit as siblings Shashi, Shobha, and Smita Tharoor settled into a freewheeling conversation at a packed Birla Sabhaghar. The event – ‘Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors’ – presented by Prabha Khaitan Foundation with FICCI Flo Kolkata and Sanskriti Sagar, became an intimate tapestry of memory, music, wisdom, sibling chemistry and heartfelt revelations.
Guided by conversationalist Nishtha Gautam, the hour-long session was a rollercoaster–funny, reflective, and deeply moving. The trio opened up about family, fate, and the leap of faith that changed their lives forever.
It all began with a mother’s fear. When a young Shashi Tharoor, a diplomat with a gleaming global reputation, decided to enter Indian politics, his mother Sulekha Menon was heartbroken. “People will spoil your name,” she warned, seeing her son step into what she viewed as a “muddy” and dangerous arena.
Shobha, who managed Tharoor’s first campaign, recalled the family’s anxiety. “It unnerved, stressed and disturbed us,” she admitted. Their mother was “deeply unhappy.”
Yet, Tharoor’s conviction was unshakable. Having observed world leaders up close at the UN, he believed politics was the ultimate platform to change lives. “If people like me stayed away,” he reasoned, “young, bright, caring people who love the country will never join.” His sister Smita, now a Kolkata resident, affirmed this lifelong motive: “He joined the UN to make a difference. He came back into politics also to make a difference.”
Looking back, Tharoor chuckled at his own “sheer ignorance.” Having left India at 19, he’d never even voted, let alone understood the gritty reality of elections. His plunge was less a calculated move and more a swirl of circumstance and idealism.
The affection in the hall was palpable, especially among women who lined up for selfies. Tharoor credited his comfort with women to the strong women in his life. “Growing up with women around me made me very sensitive… I never absorbed the patriarchy or misogyny I sometimes see,” he said, also praising his liberal father for fostering a home of free choice.
The mood turned solemn when a student asked about his private member’s bill to criminalize marital rape. Tharoor’s bill, currently tabled in Parliament, seeks to remove the legal exception that shields husbands from prosecution for raping their wives.
He called the existing law a “travesty,” rooted in “an outdated assumption that marriage is a sacred sacrament.” He expressed dismay that “women ministers handling this portfolio” have defended the exemption. “That, to me, is unbelievable–and we must speak out against it,” he stated firmly.
“Marital rape is not about conjugal rights,” he stressed. “It is about violence. And violence is rightly criminalized because it violates a person’s bodily autonomy, agency, and fundamental rights.” His bill asserts that marriage cannot negate a woman’s right to consent–“only yes means yes.”
For one evening, the politician, the writer, the diplomat, and the brother merged into one. Balancing the seriousness of law and rights were moments of pure warmth and fun that drew the audience even closer to the trio. Sisters Shobha and Smita shared anecdotes from their childhood, painting a portrait of siblings bound by deep affection, good-natured teasing, and a lifetime of shared memories.
The emotional high point came when iconic singer Usha Uthup encouraged Shashi to sing; he obliged with the beloved Hindi song “Phoolon ka taron ka,” dedicating it to his sisters as the hall softly joined in. For a few minutes, the seasoned parliamentarian and public intellectual disappeared, replaced by a brother serenading his siblings under the warm gaze of an adoring audience.
The evening was part of “Tete-a-Tea,” a signature series of freewheeling interactive sessions with celebs and prominent achievers, conceptualized by Kolkata-based culturist and philanthropist Sundeep Bhutoria. Organized by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation, often in collaboration with like-minded organizations, the series aims to create intimate, candid spaces where public figures can move beyond speeches and soundbites to share their stories, struggles, and convictions.
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