Politician and author Shashi Tharoor in conversation with (L) Nikhil Kamath, co-founder Zerodha, during a fundraiser in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Credit: DH Photo/B H Shivakumar
Bengaluru: Indian diplomat and MP Shashi Tharoor said that three elements that will build India in this era are the digital revolution that will drive innovation, an equitable policy that will uplift people living below the poverty line, and the “inspiring” youth of this country.
He was speaking in a candid chat with Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, at the Rotary Bangalore MidTown GenNext’s ‘Gift of Life’ fundraiser on Wednesday.
The fundraiser celebrated the donation of a total of Rs 35 lakh by nearly 100 donors to fund 100 paediatric heart surgeries. The proceeds of the event were handed to OP Khanna, the founder of the Needy Heart Foundation, a Bengaluru-based NGO helping patients with cardiac treatments.
Tharoor said that some things that should improve in India are the state of cybersecurity that is in “shambles”, and the lack of skill development and education for the youth and the poor.
Responding to Kamath’s questions about his life in “three chapters”, from a child with asthma — which he believed was very character-building — to becoming an international civil servant and a Member of Parliament, Tharoor described his experiences as a sense of “leaving smudgy thumbprints on the footnotes of the pages of history”.
An avid lover of literature, he said that until he was 11 or 12 years, he had built a reputation such that “if my nose was in a book, I wouldn't notice a murder being committed around me”.
He confessed to Kamath that, while he was at the UN, finding global solutions to global problems was the theory that drove his decisions, and the drive to make a difference to other people became his motto and source of satisfaction.
"The only logic in being around is to make an impact on people around you. It could be just your family, your community, your village or your clan, depending on the opportunities you have. But if you can make an impact on the larger society, then you must try to do that,” he said to an audience that listened in rapt attention.