Sunanda Pushkar

Sunanda Pushkar (27 June 1962 17 January 2014)

was an Indian businessperson and the wife of Indian
diplomat and politician Shashi Tharoor. She was a sales
manager in the Dubai-based TECOM Investments, and a
co-owner of the India-based Rendezvous Sports World.

Aishwarya Rai. Later, she joined Bozell Prime Advertising as an accounts executive. She and her second husband
Sujith Menon organised a show, which made a nancial
loss. According to one report, the couple had collaborated on the show in an attempt to save their failing marriage. According to Sunanda, Sujith had run into nancial
trouble as a nancial consultant. Sujith returned to India,
and died in an accident in Delhi in March 1997.[14][15]

Early life

After Sujiths death, Sunanda started getting threatening

calls from his creditors. For a few months, she left her
four-year-old son with her sister-in-law, and later with her
parents. By the time she brought him back to Dubai, he
had developed a communication disorder. She left Bozell
Prime to spend time with her son, and later joined Ravissant. Struggling as a small-time event manager in Dubai,
she moved in as a paying guest at her friends apartment
in Al Satwa. She spelt her name as Sue P. Menon
on her business cards, and later, started using Pushkar
(an alternative spelling of her fathers name) as her last
name. According to her, she faced nancial troubles, as
she had to repay Sujiths debts, support her parents and
her brother through engineering college.[14][15]

Sunanda Pushkar was born on 27 June 1962 in a Kashmiri

Pandit family of landlords and army ocers native to
Bomai.[2][3] She was the only daughter of Lt Col Pushkar
Nath Dass and Jaya Dass. Her father retired from the
army in 1983. She had two brothers, one of whom works
for a bank; the other is in the Army.[4][5] The family
moved from Bomai to Jammu in 1990, after their house
was set on re by militants.[6] She graduated from the
Government College for Women in Srinagar, where she
studied during 1986-88.[7]

Personal life

Impressed by the Canadian healthcare system, she emigrated to Canada in the 1990s, as her son needed speech
therapy. According to one account, she lived with a
banker companion in Toronto.[14] According to Sunanda,
she became a partner in an IT rm called Valley Resources through sweat equity, after a San Franciscobased friend introduced her to the founders. Subsequently, she became wealthy during the dot-com bubble,
managing to buy her own house and a BMW car. The
business was impacted by the post-9/11 slowdown and
closed in 2001. After four months of unemployment and
nancial diculties, Sunanda did a course in emotional
intelligence, and joined a company called Noble House
International. She organised Human Potential Reengineering programmes for several banks in Miami, Amsterdam and Geneva.[15]

While studying at the Government College, she married a

fellow Kashmiri Pandit and a hotel management graduate
Sanjay Raina.[8][9] The couple divorced in 1988. Subsequently, Sunanda went to Dubai in 1989 and married Sujith Menon in 1991.[10] Their son was born in November
1992. In October 2009, she met Shashi Tharoor at a party
organised by the billionaire Sunny Varkey. Tharoor had
arrived in Dubai in 2007, with his Canadian wife Christa
Giles.[11] Sunanda married Shashi Tharoor in 2010, after
he was elected to the Indian Parliament.[12] The couple
had a Malayali wedding ceremony in Tharoors ancestral
home at Elavanchery in Kerala, India. This was the third
marriage for both of them.[13]

Business career

Sunanda felt that she was not earning enough at Noble

House. In August 2004, she moved to Dubai with a
Canadian passport, working as a general manager for Best
Homes. Later, she joined TECOM investments to work
on the International Media Production Zone. She was nancially successful, buying two 3-bedroom apartments
at Palm Jumeirah, an apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence and two more apartments in the Executive Towers.[15]

In India, Pushkar had briey worked as a receptionist at

the Centaur Lake View hotel in Srinagar, after doing a
course in hotel management.[11] After coming to Dubai,
she started an event management business called Expressions, and became well known for her networking with
sponsors and artists for fashion shows. Her company organised several model shows for product launches, featuring several Indian fashion designers and models, including Hemant Trivedi, Rhea Pillai, Vikram Phadnis and
1

4
4.1

Return to India
IPL controversy

When she was dating Shashi, Sunanda started getting

media attention in India, as it became known that she
had been given sweat equity worth 700 million in
Rendezvous Sports World. In 2010, the company bid for
the IPL cricket team Kochi Tuskers Kerala, which represented Tharoors native state Kerala. The company was
founded in 2009, while Sunanda Pushkar was made a Director of the company on 25 February 2010, just 18 days
before the IPL bid. There were allegations that Shashi
Tharoor had misused his ministerial position to ask for a
free stake in the company, and that Sunanda was acting
as a proxy for him. The controversy ultimately resulted
in Shashi Tharoors resignation as a minister. In her defence, Sunanda argued that she had been invited to join
Rendezvous because of her extensive international experience as a business executive, marketing manager and
entrepreneur. She also stated that she had been given a
similar oer by Karim Morani of Kolkata Knight Riders in the past.[16][17] In April 2010, Sunanda announced
that she had relinquished her stake in the company following the controversy. However, she continued to hold
the stake, after she was told that there is no provision
under the BCCIs IPL rules for surrender of shares at
that stage.[18] Later in 2014, after the Twitter controversy
(see below) and shortly before her death, Sunanda stated
that she had taken upon herself the crimes of this man
[Shashi Tharoor] during IPL.[19]

4.2

Twitter incident

On 15 January 2014, a series of intimate messages, supposedly sent by the Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar to
Tharoor, were posted on Tharoors Twitter account. The
messages proclaimed Tarars love for Tharoor. Tarar
tried to downplay the incident by stating that her account
had been hacked. However, Sunanda later stated that the
account had not been hacked and that she had posted
the messages to expose what she believed to be Mehrs
stalking of her husband. She accused Mehr of being an
ISI agent.[19] Later, she stated that she did not want to go
public about the matter, especially in an election year.[20]
The next day, a note titled as Joint statement by Sunanda
and Shashi Tharoor was published on Shashi Tharoors
Facebook page. The note stated that the couple was happily married, and that some personal comments not intended for publication had been misrepresented after being posted to Twitter. The note also stated that Sunanda
had been hospitalised after being ill, and was seeking
rest.[21]

REFERENCES

5 Death
On 17 January 2014, a day after the Twitter controversy,
Sunanda was found dead in room number 345 of the
Leela Palace hotel in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Shashi
Tharoor discovered her body, when she did not wake up
from her sleep in the evening. He informed the Delhi
Police, who recovered the body from the hotel and sent
it for postmortem. According to initial reports, Sunanda
was suspected to have committed suicide. Later reports
stated that the cause of death was unnatural; the doctors
at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences gave a preliminary autopsy report that revealed injury marks on her
body. They said that these injuries may or may not be the
cause of death.[22] The autopsy indicated that she died of
drug overdose, most likely a combination of sedatives,
other strong medicines and probably alcohol.[23] An investigation has been ordered by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate to examine the cause of poisoning and to ascertain
if it was murder or suicide.[24] Her body was cremated at
Lodhi Crematorium in South Delhi.[25]
Doctors at KIMS Hospital Trivandrum, who had examined her a few days earlier said that Sunanda[26] did not
have serious health problems.[27] However, Sunanda had
hinted about her death, hours before her body was recovered from the hotel.[28]
On 1 July 2014, controversy over her death deepened
when AIIMS doctor Sudhir Gupta claimed that he was
pressured to give a false report in the case.[29]
On October 10, 2014 the medical team probing her death
concluded that she died of poisoning.[30] On January 6,
2015 Delhi Police reported that Sunanda was murdered
and led FIR in the regard. [31][32]
Subramanian Swamy a politician of BJP has tried to ght
this case against Shashi Tharoor in January 2015. Again
this case is active and subjudice. On May 20, 2015 a trial
court allowed Delhi Police to conduct Lie detector test on
3 suspects related to her death case.[33]

6 References
[1] Allana, Alia (18 April 2010). Suddenly SUNANDA.
The Indian Express. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
[2] R.I.P Sunanda Pushkar (1962 - 2014): Her life in pictures
[3] Kashmir Valley netizens point to 'India-Pak role' in
Sunanda Pushkars death
[4] Jammu to Dubai to Delhi: Who is Sunanda Pushkar
whose stake is worth Rs 70 crore?New Indian express
[5] Article 370 right now unfair: Sunanda Pushkar. New
Delhi: NDTV. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January
2014.
[6] Sunanda Pushkars father pleads that his daughter be left
alone. Daily News and Analysis.

[7] Who is Sunanda Pushkar? Her background and many

scandals. FirstPost. 16 January 2014.

[28] Sunanda Pushkar predicted Death 12 hours before her

Death. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 17 January 2014.

[8] Sunandas ex-hubby says he has 'moved on' : North,

News India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in. 16 April
2010. Retrieved 25 January 2014.

[29] Sunanda Pushkar death case: doctor accuses tharoor and

azad of inuencing report. Patrika Group (in Hindi). Retrieved 2 July 2014.

[9] Sunanda Pushkar Kashmiri village girl who made it

big in life India DNA. Dnaindia.com. Retrieved
25 January 2014.

[30] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/
Sunanda-Pushkar-death-due-to-poisoning-Medical-team/
articleshow/44764580.cms

[10] Got A Girl, Named Sue | Vrinda Gopinath. Outlookindia.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
[11] Abhishek Dubey (2011). Indian Premier League Story.
Pearson Education India. pp. 34. ISBN 978-81-3175800-7.
[12] ' + val.created_at + ' (18 January 2014). Sunanda
Pushkar Tharoor a prole. NDTV.com. Retrieved
25 January 2014.
[13] Shashi Tharoor weds Sunanda Pushkar. NDTV. 22 August 2010.
[14] Vrinda Gopinath (26 April 2010). Got A Girl, Named
Sue. Outlook.
[15] Shoma Chaudhury (1 May 2010). The Parable Of The
Vamp. Tehelka 7 (17).
[16] I am not a proxy for Tharoor: Sunanda Pushkar.
NDTV. 14 April 2010.
[17] Sunanda Pushkar a last minute inclusion in IPL bidders
group. Oneindia.in. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
[18] Pradeep Thakur & Josy Joseph (17 July 2010). Sunanda
continues to hold 19% stake in Rendezvous. The Times
of India.
[19] Sruthijith KK (16 January 2014). Border love row:
Shashi Tharoors wife Sunanda says she posted messages
of Pak journo Mehr on his Twitter handle.
[20] Pushkar swings from rage to deance to caution. The
Times of India. 17 January 2014.
[21] Joint statement by Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor on 16th
January, 2014. Facebook. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
[22] Sunanda Pushkar died an unnatural sudden death say AIIMS doctors; body cremated
[23] Drug overdose may have killed Sunanda Pushkar: Autopsy
[24] Sunanda Pushkar died of Poisoning says SDM Report.
IANS. Biharprabha News. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
[25] Sunanda Pushkars last rites at Lodhi Crematorium
[26] Sunandas murder inquiry must be without political pressure, says Tharoor. Post.jagran.com. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
[27] Sunanda did not have serious health problems: Doctors.
Times of India. Retrieved 18 January 2014.

[31] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/
Sunanda-Pushkar-was-murdered-Delhi-Police/
articleshow/45775554.cms

[32] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/
Sunanda-Pushkar-had-a-visitor-Sunil-sahab-at-hotel-two-days-before-her-d
articleshow/45815608.cms
[33] Sunanda Pushkar murder case: Court allows polygraph
test on three suspects. news.biharprabha.com. ANI. 20
May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Sunanda Pushkar Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunanda_Pushkar?oldid=666958183 Contributors: Sundar, Utcursch,

SarekOfVulcan, Ukexpat, Arunram, Bender235, DaGizza, Metropolitan90, Wavelength, Rsrikanth05, Sandstein, Ashley thomas80,
Gilliam, Chris the speller, DMacks, Ohconfucius, Shyamsunder, Arunlovy, Dl2000, Randhirreddy, Epbr123, Widefox, Seaphoto, Silver
seren, Waacstats, Tinucherian, Bharathiya, Mannerheim2015, Vigyani, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Agordhandas12788, Salih, Little Professor,
Jevansen, Aard one, Vipinhari, Martin451, Softlavender, Patoldanga'r Tenida, SieBot, Sitush, Shovon76, Cirt, Rayabhari, Excirial, Erebus
Morgaine, Eeekster, Indopug, Addbot, Aqi g, Nizil Shah, Soppakanuuna, Digby scallops, Yobot, Ciphers, Jim1138, Materialscientist, Jayarathina, Googolplexideas, 78.26, Thehelpfulbot, Galuano1, Jonesey95, Smuckola, B-Machine, Jeppiz, Lvishnuprasad, Dasster, Sunuraju,
Jnraj, K6ka, SporkBot, Netha Hussain, Naveenzcherian, Sachinvenga, Bill william compton, Ankur.chouragade, Shobhit Gosain, ClueBot
NG, BarrelProof, Hindustanilanguage, Lowercase sigmabot, Shobhit3999, Rijinatwiki, Northamerica1000, Navhus, Frze, JayaNair2011,
Yadav eklavya, Mark Arsten, Snowcream, Prg.sdme, Adamstraw99, CAWylie, BattyBot, Aryan Pushkar, VEERTHAKUR, Redrumxtina,
Mogism, JnanaKarma, Neelkamala, Samee, Atul32, Evano1van, , LooneyTunes64, Wikiuser13, Davidroth8, Foxypats, Abhi,
Bladesmulti, Quartzd, 7Sidz, Marcus Yallow, , Ronmax, Nehapant19, Amitesh.1991, Nitin.mittal998, NewsNetwork10, Nandiniravi, BethNaught, Rebeccabrown11, Hemantmalav88, TranquilHope, Madvar, AbhiRaam2898, Gameygamer1956, Randhwasingh, Sanchitb15, Iqbal.marathe and Anonymous: 183

7.2

Images

7.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0