Devil’s Advocate

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Devil’s Advocate.

Karan Thapar was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
He lived in the Army House as the son of the Army Chief, General P.N. Thapar. He had the Prime Minister’s children, Rajiv and Sanjay as playmates.
Karan was educated in Cambridge and Oxford, and had Benazir Bhutto as a close friend – He was President of the Cambridge Union while she was the President of the Oxford Union.

Yet he chose the arduous profession of journalism.
Karan Thapar started off with the Times of London, but he chose to return to India after a deep personal tragedy ( he lost his eternal love, wife Nisha, after just five years of married life).
In the past three decades, Thapar has become an icon, known for his erudition, incisive interviews in the media including the BBC, and for his incorruptible integrity.
Posterity may perhaps remember Thapar for putting the fear of God into Narendra Modi, when in 2007, as Chief Minister of Gujarat , he chose to walk out rather than face the uncomfortable questions.
Modi has been afraid to address a press conference ever since he became Prime Minister, and he took his vengeance by preventing any BJP leader from appearing on a Karan Thapar show.
Every talk show has a story behind it, and this book is a fascinating read, as Thapar has chosen to reveal some of them.

His interview with Jayalalitha ended on an acrimonious note .
To his closing words,
” It was a pleasure talking to you” , her retort was ” It was certainly not a pleasure talking to you”.
In contrast to Modi, Jayalalitha was the one who came and talked to Thapar, when he was engaged in a conversation with the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The book is an engaging and insightful read.
– Joy Kallivayalil.

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