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A mutual admiration club
By SURESH KOHLI
Soroity bonds... Aruna and Uma Vasudev.
THEY ARE not known to have walked the same street ever; though they are often found separately together at the same do in the Capital. They are as distinct from one another in gait, grace, style, walk, and temperament as dusk is from dawn. They hardly have any common friends, though they are seemingly tolerant and acquainted with those patronised by the other. They do, however, possess some common traits that are not just coincidental. They share the same address. Both are now single, hardworking, possessed souls, among the most sought after twosome in town.
Destiny does make people swirl around, making one act in reverse rather than chosen roles. Uma started off as a sort of organiser for causes and events. And had men of all ages circling around her little finger. Many continue to do so even now. She wrote extensively on music and dance, and later on politics, and ran a magazine called Surge. Later, she edited India Today for a while. But the editorial room was always the Connaught Place Coffee House, Capital's intellectual hub until the crackdown of Mrs. Gandhi's infamous Emergency. Although she has authored several books and continues to patronise music and dance, she has switched gears to make television documentaries.
And Aruna. Though she started as a big screen documentary filmmaker more than three decades ago, she has come to be identified as a promoter of Asian cinema. She has held six annual festivals in the Capital and also brings out a quarterly journal devoted to Asian cinema, Cinemaya. She also has done two voluminous books on cinema.
No envy
They have seldom crossed one another's paths, both personally and professionally. They don't appear envious of one another's achievements either. Nor have they ever publicly given an inclination of a sense of competition in any manner. They do share a family pride. Both are generous hosts. If there are any sisterly showdowns and enactments they must have been only witnessed by the walls of the two-storied house. And that could be fairly often. Dolly and Bunty seeking to rip one another apart. They are like the blunt and open side of a mirror. Being younger, Bunty maasi, sorry Aruna, is the restless doer, blessed with the rebellious streak. And Dolly aunty, well, much to many blessed souls' annoyance; Uma is a tortoise, somewhat of a perfectionist, though.
"She was beautiful," admits Aruna admiringly, "everything she did became an event, and it was fun growing up. What's most irritating about her is she is never on time. We always fought if we had to go somewhere. It took a long time coming to a decision, but now I either take it lamely, or go out separately even if we are going for the same event. That's why I could never work with her. I once did a project with her and that left me desperate for the rest of my life.
"But I wouldn't be what I am without her. I was enjoying life until she pulled me out of it, saying how long can you go on with these nice people. You must do something in life. It was this constant nagging that egged me on to become a filmmaker. It is now a way of life. Cinema has given me the world. But it would have probably come to a naught without Uma. She had everything. So I decided to find my own niche rather than feel envious."
Leading by example
And Uma was a prima dona. Chased and sought by the famous and the powerful. A biographer of Indira Gandhi. A novelist. A critic. A beautiful woman.
"I hate Aruna's short temper, and forgetfulness," says Uma, and continues. "I feel she is far more creative than what she has come to be known for though I feel proud of her achievements. For somebody so impatient I think bringing out a magazine like Cinemaya for so long is no joke.
"She has also come to be a good organiser. I never thought she was capable of it. Actually because of her achievement people have started to confuse between who is Aruna, and who is Uma. And that also makes me hold my head high. She is after all my younger sister. No matter the differences." And it is those differences that set them apart.
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