Shashi Tharoor is an author, politician and former international diplomat. He holds a doctorate in international affairs. He is a Member of Parliament, representing the parliamentary constituency of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he has been a Minister of State for External Affairs and for Human Resource Development in the Government of India. He is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, and has previously also chaired this committee as well as the Standing Committees for Information Technology and Chemicals & Fertilizers. He has written several well received fiction and non fiction books.