India-born Canadian businesswoman known for her high-profile marriage to a prominent Indian politician and her mysterious death, sparking a media frenzy. She was also a entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Sunanda Pushkar was a multifaceted personality, renowned for her entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and high-profile marriage to former International diplomat and politician Shashi Tharoor. As a sales director in Dubai-based TECOM Investments and co-owner of Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), a cricket franchise in the Indian Premier League, Sunanda made a mark in the business world.
Born on June 27, 1962, in a Kashmiri Pandit family of landlords and army officers in Bomai, Sopore, Sunanda grew up amidst the picturesque backdrop of Kashmir. Her father, Lt. Col. Pushkar Nath Dass, retired from the army in 1983. She has two brothers, one of whom works for a global software company in Dubai, and the other serves in the Indian Army.
Sunanda's educational journey took her to Convent of Jesus and Mary, Ambala, and later to Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jhansi. She graduated from Govt. Women's College in Srinagar, where she was an active student leader and served as the President of the college.
Sunanda's personal life was a complex weave of love, loss, and triumph. She married Sanjay Raina, a fellow hotel management graduate, while studying at the Government College for women. The couple divorced in 1988. Subsequently, she married Sujith Menon in 1991, with whom she had a son in November 1992. Tragedy struck when Sujith Menon died in an accident in 1997, leaving Sunanda widowed.
In 2009, she met Shashi Tharoor at a party organized by billionaire Sunny Varkey. After Tharoor's election to the Indian Parliament, the couple tied the knot in 2010, in a traditional Malayali wedding ceremony at Tharoor's ancestral home in Elavanchery, Kerala. This was the third marriage for both Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor.
In India, Sunanda's first job was as a front desk receptionist at the Centaur Lake View hotel in Srinagar, after completing a course in hotel management. Her entrepreneurial spirit eventually led her to Dubai, where she joined TECOM Investments as a sales director.
In 2010, she co-founded Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), a cricket franchise in the Indian Premier League. Her business acumen and strategic thinking contributed significantly to the success of RSW.
Sunanda Pushkar's life came to an untimely end on January 17, 2014, leaving behind a legacy of entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen, and a multifaceted personality that continues to inspire.
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