Tales from the heart

Happy sunny spots and charming showpieces dot her minimalist abode. Her warm smile and easy laugh fills up the rest of the tastefully designed comfort pad.

Written by Shruti Nambiar

December 2, 2010 11:45 PM IST

4 min read

Sudha Menon’s maiden authorial product chronicles the sensitive and humane side of some the most successful Indian women and how these qualities propelled them to greater heights

Happy sunny spots and charming showpieces dot her minimalist abode. Her warm smile and easy laugh fills up the rest of the tastefully designed comfort pad. Sudha Menon,seasoned journalist and recent first-time parent of a gurgling book,brims over with stories of spectacularly successfully women. Much jargon has been squeezed dry lauding these women and their triumphs. Menon’s book gathers their humane story – their sensitive side,their struggle and their vision. This book is peopled by women who shed quite a sweat to climb out of convention,make a mark,but at the end of the day came back to face their unchanged selves in the mirror. These women inspire you through that unfailing sheen of true substance. Leading Ladies homes snapshots of soul-searchers and of path-breakers,on a plate that’s shorn of I feel all of us need a support system,no matter how much money we have in the bank. I think this book is about that. I call it ‘soul food’, laughs Menon. Famous names greet you on the content page of the book. Anu Aga,Lila Poonawalla,Meher Pudumjee,P T Usha,Naina Lal Kidwai and Shubha Mudgal are some of the 15 women she has profiled in her book. These are amazingly busy women. One day they are in the country,next they may be in China! But they gave me their time and we shared some very intimate conversations. The generosity of their spirit touched me.

With 22 years of pen scratching in the field,the process of this book would have started much before the last 11 months that it actually took her to write. Starting from last December,it has been a whirlwind. My bag was always packed and I was hardly at home. One call and I would take off! The next appointment could be two months later! she reminisces,adding,I have met all these women and I would always wonder how they do it all. How they manage to look so unflappable! I think meeting them and knowing their stories has personally done me a world of good. I have learnt not to regret the choices I have made from them. I feel every woman should read their stories. I feel every urban woman should strive to help her sisters in suburban and rural areas, says Menon.

The book is clearly not an attempt to repeat a treatise on commercial details. Menon’s first interview was with Anu Aga,and she told her about her upbringing in an upper middle class family,and her surprise at not being expected to achieve much beyond a happyily married life. P T Usha poured her heart out on her initial days as a simple village girl from Kerala,who had just her determination to fall back on when faced with hurdles. Lila Poonawalla confessed her initial regret at not having a child,but revealed her exhilaration at having some of the smartest women as her children now.

So does this book head straight to the feminist shelf? I don’t think I am a feminist. I feel the book is about feminity. I feel men will get just as much out of it as women, says Menon.

Leading Ladies has been published by Fortytwo Bookz Galaxy,and will be launched soon in Pune.

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