Shashi Tharoor wins Sahitya Akademi Award for An Era of Darkness

Indian politician, writer and Congress party member Shashi Tharoor won the Sahitya Akademi Award 2019 today. The Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram won the prestigious award for his book An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India. The book was published in 2016 and speaks about the many atrocities the Britishers put Indians through.

On December 18, 2019, the Sahitya Akademi shared a press release announcing their annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 23 languages. Shashi Tharoor won for his work in creative non-fiction in English language.

Shashi Tharoor's book talks about the effect of British rule in India and how the colonizers exploited the country. He extensively spoke about how the British can never repay what they looted from India, but they owe an apology for leaving the country in shambles when they left after over a hundred years.

Shashi Tharoor was in London and graduated from St. Stephen's College in Delhi in 1975. In 1978, he completed his doctorate in International Relations and Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. Tharoor has served as the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and as the Minister of State for External Affairs.

He is popularly known for his impeccable hold on the English language and for going viral on the internet for his vocabulary. Recently, he even dabbled with stand-up comedy on an Amazon Prime show - 'One Mic Stand' and spoke about how he navigates life as an MP. He even cracked a few jokes on the current situation in India.

Apart from An Era of Darkness, Shashi Tharoor was also written bestsellers like Why I Am A Hindu, Paradoxical Prime Minister and Inglorious Empire. An active Congress member, the leader has also strongly opposed the recent Citizenship Amendment Act which is being touted as anti-Muslim.