No matter what the topic under discussion, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, it would seem, always has some insightful comment or unusual anecdote to share.
When a Twitter user asked Tharoor if he had ever smoked, adding that the former had a "great voice", the politician and author was quick to respond.
"Never even been tempted. I tried a cigar once at the famous Copacabana Club in Havana, Cuba, because not to have a cigar in Cuba seemed terribly prudish. Left a vile taste in my mouth for days," Tharoor narrated.
The aforementioned Twitter user is not the only person to appreciate Tharoor's 'mellifluous' voice. American comedian Hasan Minhaj once said that he "sounds like he is the voice of wise moose in a Pixar movie."
An odd compliment perhaps, but Tharoor's voice and synonymous wisdom seem to be an universally acknowledged fact. This year's Jaipur Literature Festival for example, had an entire session called 'Shashi on Shashi' with (you guessed it) Tharoor as the solitary speaker. The session was conducted by Michael Dwyer.
This is not the first 'revelation' to come from Shashi Tharoor. Take the time when Tharoor revealed that he had been offered a Bollywood film. Speaking to News18, he explained that he had turned it down as he felt it would have created controversy, given that "anything you do is liable to be misrepresented".
The leader, well known for his penchant for words, had on another earlier occasion told students that he had 'barely opened a dictionary in his life'. Responding to a student who asked me to give him a new word "in view of my reputation as a fount of exotic vocabulary", Tharoor had suggested the word 'read'.
The Thiruvananthapuram is at present in Kolkata for the launch of his new book with Samir Saran.
