WATCH: In Chennai, Shashi Tharoor talks about rethinking ideas of nationalism

Congress MP and writer Shashi Tharoor was in the city on Thursday to launch his book 'The Battle of Belongings' at CP Art Centre in Alwarpet. 

While introducing his book, Tharoor spoke about the different ideas of nationalism through the ages. He highlighted Rabindranath Tagore's essay 'Nationalism in India' and George Orwell's 'Notes on Nationalism'. "Twentieth century's two most famous essays on nationalism — one by Rabindranath Tagore towards the end of the First World War and George Orwell's towards the end of the Second World War — were written at a time of hostility when nations were fighting each other," Tharoor said. 

"For Tagore nationalism was a poor substitute for humanism while for Orwell nationalism meant patriotism gone wrong. I thought it was time to rethink some of these ideas and to look back upon what we have learned globally and how these ideas have been applied in the Indian context," he added.