Shashi Tharoor, a senior Congressman, and author Chetan Bhagat had another amusing Twitter exchange.
It all began when Mr Bhagat posted a photo of the two of them together from a recent event on Saturday with the caption, “India has two kinds of English. 1) The Shashi Tharoor English. 2) The Chetan Bhagat English.”
Mr Shashi Tharoor wrote to Mr Bhagat on Sunday morning, saying, “It was a pleasure catching up” with him at the event, and then adding, “Now how would you say that in Chetan Bhagat English?” in his inimitable witty style.
The duo’s Twitter followers were amused by this exchange. Here are some examples of responses:
This isn’t the first time the author and a senior Congressman have sparred on social media. Mr Tharoor had complimented Mr Bhagat on a newspaper report on the country’s economy a few years ago.
He called it a “superb piece by Chetan Bhagat on all that ails our country and what we should do about it,” and added, “His message is clear, and I hope his fans in government act on it.”
Mr Bhagat, ecstatic, responded by saying he was “floating” because “Shashi Tharoor has praised Chetan Bhagat.”
He also had “one request” for Mr Tharoor — “Just sir, next time can you use some big words to praise me, like ones that only you can do. Superb is nice but a big one would really make my day!”
Mr Shashi Tharoor, in typical Mr Tharoor fashion, obliged and sent the internet into a tizzy. “It’s clear you are not sesquipedalian nor given to rodomontade. Your ideas are unembellished with tortuous convolutions and expressed without ostentation. I appreciate the limpid perspicacity of today’s column,” tweeted Mr Tharoor.
Shashi Tharoor- Extensive vocabulary
Mr Tharoor is known for his extensive vocabulary and delights his social media followers with posts that include uncommon terms. Former Under-Secretary-General- United Nations, turned politician, and author Dr Shashi Tharoor’s official Twitter account is quite an interesting page.
From politics to personal opinions, he tweets about a wide range of topics in the most articulate manner possible.
Many people have felt bad about not paying attention in English classes because of ‘Tharoorian English.’
But it’s his intriguing use of lesser-known words that catch people’s attention, the most famous of which is ‘Farrago,’ which shot Dr Tharoor to Twitter fame after he used it in one of his tweets in 2017.
His “exasperating farrago of distortions, misrepresentations, and outright lies” and “rodomontade” tweets made us look up in the dictionary. His command of the Queen’s language, or rather, his penchant for lesser-known words, has frequently made the front pages of social media and digital news outlets.
Since then, Dr Tharoor has made most Indians reach for the dictionary every few days to learn a new English word! Most readers would be unaware that such English words existed if he hadn’t used them in his entertaining tweets.
Chetan Bhagat gets slammed on Twitter
Bhagat has slammed a few months ago at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his take on Vir Das’s “two Indias” monologue. Bhagat took to Twitter to add his two cents to the debate, which did not sit well with desis.
He wrote, comparing the motherland to a mother, “I may fight or find many faults with my mother but I won’t go criticising her in the neighbour’s house. I may find a hundred things wrong with my country but I won’t go criticise it publicly on an international stage. Maybe it’s just me, but some things are just not done.”
Many people chastised Bhagat for his remarks, which implied that family matters should be kept private no matter how toxic they are.
Also Read: TWITTER SPAT: ARVIND KEJRIWAL, YOGI ADITYANATH GETS INTO LATE-NIGHT BRAWL
