{"id":44611,"date":"2025-12-15T14:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T08:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/sibling-trio-connect-with-their-favourite-city-regale-kolkatans-at-tete-a-tea-with-tharoors\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T14:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T08:30:17","slug":"sibling-trio-connect-with-their-favourite-city-regale-kolkatans-at-tete-a-tea-with-tharoors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/sibling-trio-connect-with-their-favourite-city-regale-kolkatans-at-tete-a-tea-with-tharoors\/","title":{"rendered":"Sibling trio connect with their favourite city; regale Kolkatans at Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Shashi, Shobha,Smita with Nishtha Gautam at `Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors\u2019 organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation in association with FICCI Flo and Sanskriti Sagar<\/b><\/p>\n

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 15:<\/strong> Kolkata\u2019s 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 \u2013 \u2018Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors\u2019 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0presented by Prabha Khaitan Foundation with FICCI Flo Kolkata and Sanskriti Sagar, became an intimate tapestry of memory, music, wisdom, sibling chemistry and heartfelt revelations.<\/p>\n

Guided by conversationalist Nishtha Gautam, the hour-long session was a rollercoaster\u2014funny, reflective, and deeply moving. The trio opened up about family, fate, and the leap of faith that changed their lives forever.<\/p>\n

It all began with a mother\u2019s fear. When a young Shashi Tharoor, a diplomat with a gleaming global reputation, decided to enter Indian politics, his mother Sulekha Menon was heartbroken.\u00a0\u201cPeople will spoil your name,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she warned, seeing her son step into what she viewed as a \u201cmuddy\u201d and dangerous arena.<\/p>\n

Shobha, who managed Tharoor\u2019s first campaign, recalled the family\u2019s anxiety.\u00a0\u201cIt unnerved, stressed and disturbed us,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0she admitted. Their mother was \u201cdeeply unhappy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, Tharoor\u2019s conviction was unshakable. Having observed world leaders up close at the UN, he believed politics was the ultimate platform to change lives.\u00a0\u201cIf people like me stayed away,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he reasoned,\u00a0\u201cyoung, bright, caring people who love the country will never join.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0His sister Smita, now a Kolkata resident, affirmed this lifelong motive:\u00a0\u201cHe joined the UN to make a difference. He came back into politics also to make a difference.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking back, Tharoor chuckled at his own \u201csheer ignorance.\u201d Having left India at 19,\u00a0he\u2019d\u00a0never 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0\u201cGrowing up with women around me made me very sensitive\u2026 I never absorbed the patriarchy or misogyny I sometimes see,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he said, also praising his liberal father for fostering a home of free choice.<\/p>\n

\"Tharoors<\/p>\n

The mood turned solemn when a student asked about his private member\u2019s bill to criminalize marital rape. Tharoor\u2019s bill, currently tabled in Parliament, seeks to remove the legal exception that shields husbands from prosecution for raping their wives.<\/p>\n

He called the existing law a \u201ctravesty,\u201d rooted in \u201can outdated assumption that marriage is a sacred sacrament.\u201d He expressed dismay that \u201cwomen ministers handling this portfolio\u201d have defended the exemption.\u00a0\u201cThat, to me, is unbelievable\u2014and we must speak out against it,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he stated firmly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarital rape is not about conjugal rights,\u201d he stressed.\u00a0\u201cIt is about violence.<\/em>\u00a0And violence is rightly criminalized because it violates a person\u2019s bodily autonomy, agency, and fundamental rights.\u201d His bill asserts that marriage cannot negate a woman\u2019s right to consent\u2014\u201conly yes means yes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

For one evening, the politician, the writer, the diplomat, and the brother merged into one.\u00a0Balancing 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The emotional high point came when iconic singer Usha Uthup encouraged Shashi to sing; he obliged with the beloved Hindi song \u201cPhoolon ka taron ka,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The evening was part of \u201cTete-a-Tea,\u201d 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you object to the content of this press release, please notify us at pr.error.rectification@gmail.com. We will respond and rectify the situation within 24 hours.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shashi, Shobha,Smita with Nishtha Gautam at `Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors\u2019 organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation in association with FICCI Flo and Sanskriti Sagar Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 15: Kolkata\u2019s 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…<\/p>\n

Read More “Sibling trio connect with their favourite city; regale Kolkatans at Tete-a-Tea with Tharoors”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[634],"class_list":["post-44611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}