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food for thought Shobhaa De

“Socialite Evenings” and “Starry Nights” notwithstanding, Shobhaa De is not one of your standard ladies who lunch! She gently makes the point when she says she prefers to eat at home any day rather than in restaurants. As energy and mind-boggling variety go, India at 60 and Shobhaa at 60 present an equally vibrant picture. Slim and fetching in leggings and a revealing top, she tackles the interview with unflagging patience. The former model, anchor, editor of Stardust and versatile author reinforces the idea that age is only in our heads. “In traditional India, a woman of that age is a matriarch, a wise woman, one you can turn to for counsel,” she explains. “In fact, Asian societies respect age.” But this is not the case in the cities, she adds, especially if a woman is widowed and 60.

Over a platter of assorted vegetable dimsums, she points out how women in India were never discriminated against “on paper”. Unlike, say, Switzerland, we always had universal adult franchise. But when Indian women began stepping out of their homes to work, the “big change” in society took place. “I don’t think you can turn the clock back,” she remarks, even as she feels that men have never completely come to terms with this change. The phenomenon of “the so-called new age man” doing domestic chores is only “to keep the peace,” she suggests, saying they would opt for the old order if they could, and that’s why the saas-bahu serials that reflect that world are so popular.

There are aspects to the homemaker’s role that don’t attract the vivacious author. One is washing dishes, which she finds “grubby”. But ironing “is a joy”. While Bengali food is the norm at the De home, Shobhaa loves Chinese food — “I could eat it every day” — as well as Japanese. Normally, lunch would have been a glass of lassi, and the main meal of the day dinner. “I’m not a breakfast person. I’m too impatient to start work,” she adds.

Though Shobhaa works from home, her husband calls the shots in the kitchen.

“I would never brainwash my daughters into believing that every woman has to be a good cook.”

ANJANA RAJAN

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