New Delhi: Congress MP and acclaimed author Dr. Shashi Tharoor closed the We Women Want 2025 Conclave with a blend of humour, literary insight, and political commentary, urging Indians to revive deep reading and critical engagement.
Departing from his usual English vocabulary, Tharoor’s Hindi “word of the day” was Padho (Read). “Reading a message is not complex reading—even if the message is full of complexes,” he quipped, encouraging parents to let children read about what they love to rediscover the joy of reading for pleasure.
On the prospect of a memoir, Tharoor said he had turned down offers, claiming he still had “more life to live.” Jokingly, he proposed the title The Man Who Nearly, referencing his “”almosts”—from nearly becoming UN Secretary-General to holding the record for the most votes by a losing Congress presidential candidate in 138 years.
Refusing to name favourites in Bollywood, he praised talent across Indian cinema and called for more substantial roles for actors beyond box-office formulas. In a light moment, an audience member dubbed him the “Mindthrob of the Nation,” a title he accepted with amusement.
Ending on a firm note, Tharoor defended India’s moral high ground in cross-border conflicts, particularly after Operation Sindhur, stressing that the country targeted only terror hubs, not civilians, and rejecting any equivalence between a state that sponsors terror and one that defends its sovereignty.
