Shashi Tharoor, India's most famous modern day international diplomat writes for two different newspapers on Sundays: The Sunday Times of India and The Magazine, Hindu. His column in STOI is called 'Shashi on Sunday' and the one in The Hindu is simply called 'The Shashi Tharoor Column'.
Names and position-wise (he's on the op-ed page in the STOI and on page 3 of The Magazine) apart, the quality of articles in the two newspapers is as different as nectar and poison. No prizes for guessing where you are more likely to find nectar or where you might end up choking yourself with one of your own pair of shoelaces!!!
The STOI column I have so far managed to follow has contained a reciprocal praise-heaping article on Jug Suraiya and of late is redefining the alphabet for the modern Indian, with a nauseating listing of everything that defines "Indian" in alphabetical order.
On the other hand, in The Hindu we find a world class diplomat showcasing us his talent. Brilliant incisive articles; which invite debate; stir thoughts are the staple diet. No shameless India-centric-chest-thumping. Infact, there have also been many subtle articles about his Malayali origins. But, not once has there been an article like
A: Acchan (Dad), Ammai (mom)
.........
C: Chechi (sis), Chettan (bro)
.............
P: patti (dog)
..................
etc
No, never!!!
Pray Shashi, why does this rubbish get reflected in the STOI? My feeling is that Shashi knows what the TOI is worth and this sub-consciously shows in his articles. Sir, kindly stop writing for this stupid tabloid; you are doing yourself no good. Leave the TOI to the likes of Jug/Mug/Bug or whatever..............
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