New Delhi, Aug 13 (IANS) It's finally official. Shashi Tharoor is marrying Sunanda Pushkar on Aug 22 in a "quiet family affair" to be held at his "crumbling 200-year-old ancestral home" in Kerala.

In a letter to close friends, the former minister, who had to step down because of his links with the Dubai-based Pushkar and her stake in the Kochi IPL team, said the wedding would be followed by a "modest reception" Aug 23 in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram and a "final reception" in Delhi Sep 3.

"I am writing to convey to you with joy -- while I realise you may perhaps have learned this already from our intrusive media, though I have not confirmed it publicly -- that I will soon be marrying Sunanda Pushkar," Tharoor wrote.

Seeking the "good wishes" of his well wishers "for this major personal step in my life", Tharoor goes on to touch upon the controversies that have dogged his life in the past few years -- from twitter trouble to IPL.

"I have lived through a great deal of unrest in the last couple of years," wrote the Congress MP, adding that he looked forward to a period of quiet.

"The prospect of being able to have a real home at last, with a woman I love and wish I had met many years ago, will only strengthen me in facing the challenges of public service that lie ahead."

Promising that "an invitation will follow", Tharoor apologised for the "short notice necessitated by the Kerala political calendar" and hoped his friends would "treat this as more than just a 'save the date'".