When asked to describe himself, Tharoor said he was a “nervous boy” when he had arrived in the city from Mumbai. His three years at St Xavier’s were nevertheless an “extraordinary experience”.

Tharoor remembered writing a column refuting the existence of God as a 14-year-old editor of the school magazine Nihil Ultra. The school had helped him develop the habit of random reading and learning outside his curriculum, he added.

The diplomat said: “The school syllabus taught me a thing or two about secularism, having a pan-Indian outlook and regard for my fellow human beings. It also helped me develop the tolerance needed in a pluralist Indian society.” While maintaining that India’s pluralism was reflected in every aspect of life, be it ethnicity, religion, cuisine and language, he drew parallels between it and the Xavierian ethos.

“St Xavier’s School was insulated to a remarkable extent to prevent us from imbibing middle class prejudices,” said Tharoor.

He added the country cannot practice secularism as in the West. “Even the followers of a party like CPM compete with other parties to put up the most lavish puja pandals,” he said. While stressing on the continuance of a pluralist democracy for the development of the poor in the country, he described religious intolerance and political opportunism as threats to its existence.