Digging deeper

Those wondering what peppy effervescent Gul Panag gets up to when shes not holding forth on a range of issues on social media or standing for elections will be happy to know that the dimpled actress voice artiste model and former beauty queen from Chandigarh hasnt lost or sacrificed her legendary fizz to nation buildingThe daughter of defence personnel Panang as reported in the Daily Dossier has recently collaborated in a musical venture with singersong writer DEB his music has been nominated for the Dadasaheb Phalke and IRAA awardsPriyanka Chopra and Gul PanagThe musical video aims to send the message of digging deep within and connecting to the traveler inside Talking about digging deep heres an example While watching the Punjabi Panag we were reminded of that other Punjabi actress the other outspoken and thoroughly modern colleague of hers with equally beguiling dimples Priyanka Chopra Why did one woman achieve international fame and the choicest of assignments while the other didntThe luck of the draw or the roll of the diceGrace under pressureThose who know us know that we have always been a supporter of strong independent women women who have had tough lives but still manage to conceal their struggles who still manage to rise up in the face of often unfair adversity and perform their daily duties with dignity and graceLast year on Womens Day during a ceremony to confer the Nari Shaktri Puraskar award on six well deserving women the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee had made a strong speech and reminded the audience that the empowerment of women and their equality liberty and dignity are not a distant goal or fond aspiration of women in our country but one of their sacred rightsAnd word comes in that this year our school friend and a woman of substance Dimple Kapadia who embodies all the qualities of an empowered woman received the Nari Shakti Samman award We have known Dimple from our teenage years and seen her through all her ups and downs never complaining and always rising to each new challenge that life put in front of herAnd what makes the award even more special is that it was presented by another woman of substance our friend advocate Abha Singh who herself has always challenged the patriarchal leanings Whether it was taking on Salman Khan or Sanjay Dutt Singh has never been afraid of speaking up and incidentally makes a good candidate for the recognition tooIts a bird its a planeCould there be anything hotter than the sight of Indias ironman Milind Soman running barefoot from Ahmedabad to Mumbai a distance of 570km via Silvassa for the Great India Run billed as the countrys first multicity ultra marathonMilind SomanWe think not The supermodel TV actor entrepreneur and fitness icon who celebrated turning 50 last year by participating in the gruelling Ironman race in Zurich began his journey last week and covered 67 km on the first day itself to reach AnandWhich when you think of how much endorphins and euphoria that such vigorous running must release ndash is not a coincidence at allRemembering RaniOur mention of the late social activist and Supreme Court lawyer Rani Jethmalani last week resulted in a flood of memories from her legion of peers and admirersRani JethmalaniThe fiery attractive daughter of the equally fiery Ram Jethmalani and elder sister to lawyer Mahesh Tony Jethmalani was legendary for her passion to empower the disfranchised She was the least ambitious but most compassionate lawyer amongst us said a colleague of hers who had often sparred with her on many a caseNurturer mentor and conscience keeper said another whom Rani had taken under her wing Jethmalani had passed away in early 2012 succumbing to a terminal illness Womens rights issues were very close to Ms Jethmalanis heart She founded the Mahila Dakshata Samiti to campaign against the social evils against womenCommit2Change a nonprofit organisation where she served as a board member described her as a lawyer who made most significant advances in the area of dowry and dowrydeath related cases Her innovative use of public interest litigation in criminal trials challenged societal and cultural trends one of her obituaries had notedLike a deflated tyreWe kid thee not this really happened According to a habitual participant of what is arguably modern Indias biggest bugbear the talkathonshmoozefest the daughter of a regional female political heavyweight whod been invited to speak at a womens conclave was throwing her weight around in response to the lionising that she was receiving by all and sundryAs a favour to her hosts she mincingly agreed to meet a few hapless guests one of whom just happened to be not only one of the fests main sponsor but also the daughter of a powerful clan Because she is so retiring and modest the lady did not once identify herself content to take a backseat while the other women ingratiated themselves with the political scion who was puffed up with her power says the serial attendeeSo you should have seen how she reacted when she realised that the person shed been patronizing and dismissive about through out the tea was the daughter of the person whod created her Moms boss it was like the air had escaped suddenly from a punctured tyre says the HP Thats why I keep telling you to come to these things you learn so much about human nature Indeed