Today's Femme fatale - Tomorrow’s torchbearer

Coming up with a list of my top five women of the future required a lot of deliberation. Obvious names which keep cropping up all the time like Indra Nooyi, Kiran Shaw Majumdar etc, I decided to ignore. Not because, they do not merit the credit but because, they belong to a passing out generation.

My quest was to identify young torch bearers and futuristic women of potential. Sorry guys but Katrina, Aishwarya and Kareena simply cannot hold the candle to these gusty others. Don’t get me wrong but I have no patience for someone who cannot get herself to even converse in the very same language that helped her showcase her only talent (read looks). Kareena and Bips own precious little in the higher department and lose points each time their inter-“views” and personas are aired. Aishwarya falls just short of reaching the top five. Much as I admire her wax-like beauty, she could have done a lot more than just working for personal gains. While I have cited the reasons for the why-nots, the toppers get only a brief generalization for being chosen.

1. Brains as indicated by their ‘word of mouth’ or pen/keyboard.
2. Actions in real life that range from community service to personal lives to business acumen.

Those wanting more credibility can do their own research. Please understand these are my top fivers and you can beg to differ. I do not pay heed to character certifications or cast value judgements. Hence, feel free to take your own stand. So without further ado, my top five women for the future in alphabetical order are –

Preity Zinta
Priyanka Chopra
Sagarika Ghose
Sunitha Krishnan
Sushmita Sen

Having a point of view is important.

To be or not to be

I was quite upset to note in a recent survey that Shashi Tharoor did not qualify in India’s most eligible bachelor list. Which idiot cares about an age gap when a man has brains in spades? And then found he had married again :P. Nevertheless, it requires a significant size of guts (not using the b-word for propriety) for a public figure to express a personal opinion with candour, court controversy as well as risk the ire of seniors.

It is a known fact that certain regressive policies of certain haloed individuals set India backwards by a good many decades. If facts come as a shock to some old bones and some newer, much softer ones, then I recommend shock proof vests for them. Tharoor, join a better party. Better yet, start a newer and better one.

Granted, his TED India talk wasn’t great. Granted, the five star accommodation fiasco should have been avoided. But hey, no one is infallible. I like my heros real.

A well thoughtout ad