Shashi tharoor weds sunanda pushkar

Shashi Tharoor weds Sunanda Pushkar (photos)





It finally turned out to be a quiet wedding for a couple who've been making big news. Dubai-based Sunanda Pushkar and former Indian union minister Shashi Tharoor got married early today (August 22) in a traditional ceremony in Kerala. The wedding took place at Tharoor's ancestral home in Elavanchery near Palakkad, and both the bride and groom were dressed in white (he in a mundu and shirt and she in sari with a gold border), as per the custom. This was the third marriage for both Tharoor and Sunanda.

The marriage was attended by Tharoor's 94-year-old grandmother, his mother, his two sons from his first marriage, Sunanda's father Pushkarnath Das and her son. Among the only political guests at the wedding was Tharoor's friend Mani Shankar Aiyar. There were around 300 guests in all at the wedding.

The couple will be having a three-day wedding reception in Dubai towards the end of this week. This will be followed by another reception in Delhi.



Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar married at his ancestral home according to Hindu Nair customs at 8.30 a.m on Sunday Aug 22.

Marriage was in the presence of Shashi Tharoors 94-year-old maternal grandmother. Sunanda Pushkar was in traditional Kerala attire wearing a ’kasavu’ saree.

Fifteen persons from Kashmir have come with Sunanda Pushkar for the wedding. Tharoor’s sons have also come for wedding. Although it was supposed to be a very private function a lot of people had come for the wedding. ’Niraputhiri’ function was also held at the house.

The party from the bride's side included Sunanda's father Col Pushkarnath Das. Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar was the only senior politician present for the ceremony.

Tharoor's mother Lily Tharoor, sons from his first marriage Eshan and Kanishk and sisters Sobha and Smitha were present.

Shashi Tharoor-Sunanda Pushkar sought the blessings of the elders before stepping on to the ’kathirmandapam’.
They will now plunge into a busy schedule soon that will also take them to Dubai and Spain.

Shashi Tharoor-Sunanda Pushkar will Sunday evening head for former Union minister Tharoor’s parliamentary constituency of Thiruvananthapuram.

They will then wing their way to Dubai for a reception and move on to Spain for a short honeymoon.
Shashi Tharoor’s 200-year-old ancestral home has been given a fresh coat of paint and a marquee has also come up in front.

“The wedding will take place Sunday . in the presence of his grandmother. Only close relatives and friends of Tharoor will be present.”

According to custom, Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar have become man and wife when he tied the ’thali’ around her neck. He also exchanged garlands and handed her ’podava’ or a new set of clothes.

This is the third marriage of both Tharoor and Pushkar.
The couple have hectic days ahead. They will leave by road for Coimbatore to take a flight to Thiruvananthapuram.
“They will arrive in Thiruvananthapuram late Sunday and stay at his rented flat in the city. On Thiru Onam day (Monday) at 10 a.m., there will be a get-together of select invitees.
“Then the next programme would be a reception in Dubai. From there they move on to Spain and on Sep 3, a dinner will be held for their friends in Delhi,” said the aide.
Incidentally, the last Onam for Tharoor too was a memorable one. For the first time in five decades, he celebrated the festival in Kerala by having the traditional Thiru Onam lunch at an orphanage here.

Shashi Tharoor, 54, was born in London but has his roots in Palakkad. He had his school education in Mumbai and Kolkata and secured a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He completed a Ph.D. at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts.

Shashi Tharoor, a former under secretary general at the UN, won by a record margin of nearly one lakh votes from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency in 2009.
He resigned as a minister of state of external affairs following a controversy over the Indian Premier League.

The party from the bride's side included Sunanda's father Col Pushkarnath Das. Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar was the only senior politician present for the ceremony.

Tharoor's mother Lily Tharoor, sons from his first marriage Eshan and Kanishk and sisters Sobha and Smitha were present.

 

WITH MUM LILY THAROOR



HIS SON KANISHK THAROOR


Kanishk Tharoor graduated from Yale with BAs in History and Literature. He spent his time in college as an aspiring politico, historian, journalist, and writer. He is a journalist and also a writer of fiction, for which he was nominated for a US National Magazine Award in 2009 and been been included in a recent Penguin anthology of short stories. He is Managing Editor of openDemocracy.net.



ISHAN THAROOR

 

with father in law









Tharoor created history by winning the Lok Sabha seat from Thiruvanathapuram by an unprecedented margin.
Never before has anyone not born in the city or not educated here or not proficient in Malayalam registered an electoral victory in the state.

V K Krishna Menon, the former Union defence minister, and K R Narayanan, who later become India's President, claimed electoral victories on the basis of their accomplishments abroad, but they were both born and educated in Kerala and they spoke reasonable Malayalam