The horse is not going to listen to you and jump just because you are a Scindia or the Princess of Gwalior, he doesn’t really care,” says the only woman, who forayed a male bastion of dressage and show jumping and rode with the Border Security Forces way back in the 1970s.
Close to the palace grounds, about 36 km away was where politician and avid polo lover Yasho Raje Scindia, got a taste of freedom, a place where she didn’t have to use her famous surname, where she could just be herself.
But there is a lot more to Yasho than just her chiffon saris, pearls and royal tag. “Despite many brutal falls of the horse, busted shoulders and knees, I never gave up and I was the only woman riding with men. My competitor was Roshan Sodhi and many times I would beat my opponent in equestrian sports, it is a thrill that you can’ t explain in words,” she says.
Born with a golden spoon in her mouth, she remembers the time when she was sent away to boarding school, in Kodaikanal, Presentation Convent, and the only time she got to see her mother Vijayraje Scindia was during summer and winter holidays. “We would be sitting at the back of her car, followed by a kafila of cars, travelling from one village to another, while my mother delivered speeches. At that time, Atalji started by inspiring the crowd and my mom would follow him soon after he finished, it was the most amazing experience of my life. I may not had a traditional childhood where my mom would take me out to movies and an ice-cream, but when I look back today she did the groundwork for me and my sister Vasundhara Raje in politics,” says Yasho.
Many people thought, adds Yasho, with a smile, that her mom was a right wing Hindu fundamentalist, but she sent her daughter to a convent school, run by strict Irish nuns.
Interestingly, like all princesses, Yasho too was destined and groomed to marry, so she was sent off to a finishing school in Mumbai, which she admits, she hated. “I was so happy to come back home after the finishing school, and I knew I had met the man of my dreams, my ex-husband Sidharth Bhansali, but what I didn’t know was that marriage will have to wait,” she remembers.
Emergency was declared, her mother was sent to Tihar jail and there were raids in their properties all over the country and being the only unmarried daughter, all panchnamas were in Yasho’s name.
“I quickly learnt what a cheque book was and how to handle IT officers and government officials. I would often cry at the end of a hard day trying to deal with everything that was happening around me, but I would never let anyone know,” she says.
Her mother was soon released, but it was election time and Yasho had tied the knot with Sidharth and her brother Madhavrao, she recalls, could only come for three hours to give her away, while her mom despite commitments stayed on for her reception at the Taj Hotel, Mumbai till the end. “My ex-husband belongs to a very prominent Jain family of Mumbai, most of them were either doctors or diamond merchants, and I was mentally prepared to start a life with him in New Orleans, USA, it was challenging, but when you have love everything else matters little,” she says.
Marriage might not have worked out for Yasho, but what she is extremely proud of is that she was a good mother to her children. “I lived life on my own terms, never used the Scindia surname to open doors, I love politics, it is my life and the need to serve people is a family vow we have all solemnly taken,” she concludes.