I met Sushmita Sen recently at an awards function. She looked sensational. She wore a short black dress. Her legs looked never-ending, her body like a new model’s and her eyes were gleaming, not superficially, never superficially but with the depth that comes
from the inside. I told her later, “I have never seen you look as good as this — ever.” She replied, “When good things are happening to you and you are happy I guess you look good too!”
I have known Sushmita for a very long time, when she lived in Vasant Kunj in Delhi and was aspiring to be a model. I was modelling at that time and although I did not know her well, I knew of her, even though she was from the later generation of models. When people are from the same city and move to another, there is always a bond, but somehow I felt a deeper connection with Sush. “Is it just me, or do you feel this connection too?” I asked her, coming from a space where I have felt a connection at times with people only to realise later, that it could have been only one-sided. “I feel it too,” she said. “In fact, you only feel it because there is a two-way energy. For some reason if your connect is not reciprocated by someone, it means that they have still not evolved to recognise it yet, but it’s there!” she laughed.
Sushmita spells the definition of bold and beautiful. She makes her choices and lives by them. She believes life defines your DNA. She was brought up in a loving household with a solid support system. She was taught that not only being different but living it, is the big test.
She was taught to be fearless and believe in herself. “People are there for support and advice but our lives are lived and experienced only by  us.” I could not agree with her more. “Rejection is always followed by acceptance,” she said.
She chose to adopt two baby girls. Renee almost 11 and Alisah still a baby. “The ratio of boys to girls in the adoption centre was alarming, that could be the reason I chose girls,” she said matter-of-factly. “When I left home I got homesick and felt the need for a family. The feeling of nurturing and being a mother has come naturally to me. I have a womb and one day I will produce children too, I am sure.”
She spoke how she is being applauded for doing this as a charitable gesture. “No!” she said definitively, “I did this for my need. It has been wonderful.”
What about the man I ask her? A person to love for you and a father for your children? “And why not?” she said. “It will happen when it happens. I believe in love. I don’t have the time to invest in a relationship right now. Those days are gone when you felt relationships last with no effort put in.”
I nod in agreement, “As far as the need for a father for my children is concerned, it is our social conditioning that makes us believe that there has to be a father or husband, however I believe it could be positive male energy in the likes of a friend or a brother, but for the future, sure, I am open to it.”
Sush won the “Miss Universe Crown” 15 years ago and has come a full circle having recently been awarded the rights of the Miss Universe franchise in India. Today it is not just a beauty pageant for her. “It ceased to be one when I became Miss India.” She calls her franchise “I Am She.”
This will be a wonderful platform not only to be a beauty queen but to reach people and give them the opportunity to do their bit for the less fortunate and do it to make a difference and thus be really beautiful from the inside too. She has involved several cancer and HIV centres and orphanages in this project. “I am super excited about this,” she gushes.
“An inaccessible and mysterious diva?” she laughs. “I have never done anything for perception or because I am expected to join a bandwagon. I cannot be superficial. For people I care about, I am there a 100 per cent, every inch of me. You tell me,” she addresses the question to me, “Have I been unapproachable to you?” “Never!” I have to agree with her. She has been there for me, be it my birthday or a store opening, and I have always known her to be super responsive.
“It’s a perception that gets ignited,” she says. This tall superstar, who makes heads turn with her presence believes she was not made for the camera. You have to know her to recognise her person. Her family asks sometimes, “What if you were not the famous superstar, Titan Shona (her nickname)?” She answers dismissively, “That is a futile question. I don’t want to consider life hypothetically. I believe in destiny.”

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