No Trophy Wives

Pursuit She is not just a politician’s wife— Shallu Jindal is an author, too. Her book, India—An Alphabet Ride, was released this year. She is also a dancer and takes CSR quite seriously.

Born and raised in Ludhiana, Shallu Jindal comes from the famed Oswal family of Punjab. “Living in a small city taught me a lot about family bonding, and how to co-exist with others in any eventuality,” says the dancer, mother of two and wife of politician Naveen Jindal, the head of Jindal Steel and Power.

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The Good Life 170 Despite being a private person, Shallu married into a high-profile family and enjoys being in the public space. “I balance being a public figure—leading a busy, focused life—with my dance and commitment to public service,” she says. Shallu was recently appointed chairperson of the National Bal Bhavan. But the seeds of social work were sown in her, quite early. After her marriage, she moved to Raigarh with her husband in 1994. “Lots of villagers used to come to me requesting for bore wells to be constructed, roads to be laid, schools to be developed or repaired, electricity to be given, the traditional Dokra art to be preserved and livelihood programmes started,” she reveals. “I used to participate actively in the development work that our company used to initiate, in and around the plant, and have memories of sitting with them, discussing their problems and finding solutions.”

Vocational training and girl child education are issues close to her heart. “I’m spearheading projects,’’ she says, ‘‘and I am currently in the process of starting academies to promote Indian traditional classical arts in New Delhi as well as Odisha.”

She is also planning to set up the Jindal Centre for Arts in Odisha, which will provide training in classical arts to students. A residential facility spread over 10 acres, it will offer scholarships to underprivileged students, enabling them to adopt classical arts as a career. “There is lot more to be done,’’ she smiles. ‘‘If I can, even in a small way, influence others to devote some time to social work, I would think I have done something substantial in life.”

Shalu Jindal is also the co-chairperson of the JSPL Foundation, which is involved in education, vocational training, health and family welfare, agriculture, animal husbandry and water resource management. “We are planning to invest more than one lakh crore in setting up power plants in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh, with vigorous CSR,’’ she reveals. ‘‘As the company grows, so will the scale and reach of our CSR programs.”

Been married for 20 years, Shallu is a mother of an 18-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. And if you ask her, if her husband takes advice from her she will tell you in a flash, “Naveen and I respect each other a lot and do advise on various issues,” she says. “I think the beautiful part of our relationship is the mutual respect and our ability to give each other space to grow as individuals. At the same time we are always there for each other and our children.”

‘‘If I can, even in a small way, influence others to devote some time to social work, I would think I have done something substantial in life.”

She is the daughter of Nana Chudasama—the former Sheriff of Mumbai, can drape a sari in 54 ways, and even holds a record for the fastest sari drape (eight to 10 seconds!) in the Guinness Book of World Records. She is also the current treasurer of the BJP, Maharashtra. Meet Shaina Munot, aka NC. A Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, graduate, Shaina learnt the nuances of fashion from her mom who owns a boutique, Golden Thimble, in Mumbai. “I’m quite close to my mom Munira,’’ she says. ‘‘She has a great sense of style and taught me a lot about fabrics and colours, which I incorporated in my saris,” she adds. “I still run my mom’s boutique in Mumbai. It is one of the oldest in the city where we can tell you how to wear saris with churidaars, pants or jeans.”

Shaina started working with her mother at the age of eighteen, and won appreciation for her ingenious drapes—starting with 17 styles and going on to fiftyfour. This led her to start a ready-to-wear line of saris. But politics was always on her radar. “I knew it was either fashion or politics and I chose the latter,” she smiles.

Shaina who grew up in a multi-religious family, feels that thinking about religious differences and caste politics is passé. “I have a Hindu father and a Muslim mother, so we celebrated all the festivals,” she says. “I married my childhood sweetheart Manish, a Marwari Jain. This is true India right? People today are not thinking about caste, but progress.”

The need for women’s empowerment propelled her to join the BJP in 2004. But life has been a learning curve for Shaina and she is happy for all that it has taught her. From losing an election in 2004 to a Congress candidate to becoming the first woman treasurer of the BJP, her story is inspiring. “My work revolves around women and education and that is the way forward,” she says. Shaina learnt to be positive from her dad, who never said ‘no’ when she wanted to join the BJP. He respected her decision even though they supported different parties. “I worked with Arun Jaitely, Modiji, Advaniji and Rajnath Singh, and they encouraged women to take on integral roles in the party.”

Shaina has worked extensively with cancer patients under the Cancer Patients Aid Association; ‘I love Mumbai’, a campaign initiated by her dad, to keep the city clean; and relief work for J & K flood victims. “I also work with Shraddha Charitable Trust, which provides vocational training to autistic kids,” she says. “We are also planning a cancer hospital in Vidarbha with the RSS. It will give relief to villagers, who have been struggling with healthcare.”

Treasurer of good deeds Shaina Munot is the treasurer of the BJP, Maharashtra, and is opening a cancer hospital in Vidarbha with the RSS. The former fashion designer hopes to add more feathers to her cap.

The Good Life 172 Acts of kindness Vani Tripathi Tikoo is not shackled by marriage— rather set free,despite being in politics.Her real prowess lies in bringing about effective social revolution through uplifting women.

She is a bit of a romantic. That’s why when politician Vani Tripathi met businessman Hemant Tikoo, she instantly knew she had found someone she could grow old with. “He is resilient and patient while I am quite the opposite—impulsive—so we kind of balance each other out,” she laughs.

It was a tough decision to get married when the national elections were in full swing. When you are the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a star campaigner, it can be difficult juggling various roles. But Vani, who had managed to do street theatre along with college, managed to continue multitasking with ease.

The political science graduate from Hindu College, New Delhi, and an actress-turned-politician, Vani comes from an academically inclined family. Her father taught literature at Delhi University and her mother at Rajasthan University. “I remember my father speaking on the Ramayana… he was gregarious, unlike my reclusive mom, and there were always students in the house discussing everything from politics to books,” she reminisces. “I was the only child and grew up in a scholarly atmosphere and learnt to understand that awareness about rights can bring about a distinct social change.” This is what motivated Vani to take up theatre, and her 20-year-old relationship with the National School of Drama was a fruitful one. She even taught there and observed that it can be an effective means of communication.

She learnt acting from Ebrahim Alkazi and was handpicked by ace filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his daughter Pooja for their film Dushman. She did almost thirty TV serials, sixty plays and six films. “Growing up was filled with fabulous experiences—I travelled doing theatre from the East to the West, teaching empowerment though acting and interacting with tribal teachers.” Interestingly, it was a chance encounter with BJP leader Pramod Mahajan in 2004 that changed her life forever when he asked her to join the BJP and campaign. “I was a fan of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani, so I agreed to campaign as Pramodji had always said that it is easy to criticise but if you really care, you need to join the system and make policy changes.” She campaigned actively across nine states but the party lost. She then faced a dilemma—to stick to politics or go back to acting. Politics won her vote and she swore to bring about social change. “Rajnath Singh became national president and nominated me as the national secretary of the youth wing of the BJP,” says Vani. There was no looking back, as she organised leadership programmes for women, realising that most of the population below 40 years needs to be motivated. “It was a tough phase last year with the elections as I was getting married into an apolitical family and shifting home to Gurgaon,” she says. “But I did street plays all over the country to bring about awareness and the hard work paid off.”

Vani considers herself lucky that she had the opportunity to select her life partner. But she lays a lot of emphasis on being economically strong. “Till women are economically independent, they will remain shackled, despite the best education. Which is why employment generation for women has been my motto, not just in rural areas but semi-rural ones, too,” she says. UP. Four years later they were married. After working as a print and TV journalist for almost nine years, this La Martiniere School, Lucknow, alumni decided to take up an ambitious project,a book with Roli Publishers,Dining with the Maharajas—Thousand Years of Culinary Tradition, which went on to become the bible for food connoisseurs. “Jiten and I share a fantastic relationship, where he really motivates me to follow my dreams,”Neha says. “A supportive family is the key to a woman’s success and Jiten was more than happy to have me travel for almost two years for the book, just after our wedding,” she smiles. Even though they are like chalk and cheese, they have common interests, like their love for the wild, so their family holidays are mostly in the hills. “We love the outdoors and Jiten is always pushing me to do more than being a stay-at-home mom; and that’s the recipe for a good marriage.”

Neha came to the capital from Lucknow for her first job,but gave up TV before marriage and took to freelance writing. She then joined her husband for political campaigns and did a craft-based project for the National Museum. However, being a self-confessed foodie, when she got the bookoffer,she found it hard to resist.“I am a food junkie,I like reading cookbooks,blogs and trying out new recipes, so writing about ten royal families connected with the social history of food was invigorating.”

It was her time management skills that helped her get the task done on time as she travelled with her photographer Ashima Narain to multiple cities. “Food and lifestyle are interconnected,” she says. “We discovered that many life-altering decisions are taken over a meal—whether it is marital alliances or political partnerships.” Reading has been Neha’s second love—who grew up on a staple diet of books, thanks to her mother. Being gifted Enid Bly tons when she was young on birthdays started her love affair with words. “Lucknow is a small town, but it is culturally and historically quite enriched and I grew up in a joint family, so there were many interesting influences around.” She also accepts the influence of Enid Blyton on her writing. “Kids have a very short attention span and Blyton still managed to keep me with her till the end of the book. That’s what it takes to be an ingenious storyteller— lucidity and humour, both of which I incorporated in my book,” she smiles.

Now the mother of two, a fifteen-month-old boy and a two-month-old girl, Neha is discovering the joys of motherhood. She confesses it has taughther patience and selflessness, but she is now thinking of other exhilarating book projects that she can take up in the near future.“This one year with the kids has given me time to read up and plan another book, maybe soon!” she concludes. Not without her pen or plate The elegant Neha Prasad a hasn’tl et being a politician’s wife dilute her love for travel, food or writing. This mother of two reveals why being independent is the key to confidence.

When Neha Seth met former minister Jiten Prasada, they became friends. She was a journalist, he a powerful politician from the Taluqadar family of Shahjahanpur in The Good Life 174