Pawarhouse Putri

At least this is what Sule8212; Supriyatai, sister, to her colleagues, admirers, fans, enthusiasts, groupies8212;would like us to believe as we zip through the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on a five-hour dawn ride to her first major public meeting in Indapur, near her father8217;s pocketborough of Baramati.

It does not take long to discover Sule is achingly modest and trendily PC politically correct, a Deccan BoBo bourgeois-bohemian, born to political royalty and given to cutting-edge philanthropy.

8220;I discovered quite early I was born for this life,8221; she says breezily, from the front of the car. 8220;I think anyone who is sensitive, observant and conscious of one8217;s surroundings will want to do something. Of course, it helps I come from a political family, I would be foolish to deny I have privileges because of who my father is. But the party can help tremendously to promote my causes of education and health. The party will give me direction. Anyway, I have to live up to the expectations of my father and party too.8221;

Well, 8216;Daddy8217; is the party boss and the party HQ is in the house, but if Sule refers to the party like some Soviet-style apparatchik, the blurred lines are made agonisingly clear at the festive venue of her meeting in the courtyard of the Shri Samarth Vigyan Mandal, a school for the deaf and dumb.

The Pawars have kept the programme8212;the donation of an ambulance8212;non-political, keenly aware of the pitfalls of thrusting a dynastic heir on the nascent party just yet.

As trumpets blow and drums roll, Sule is ushered into the colourful pandal and on to the dais by women in traditional Narayanpet and Paithani sarees. She gathers the jumbo-sized garlands in mock horror and chastises all those who fall at her feet with stern warnings.

As the speeches hail her father8217;s and her contribution, Sule is visibly self-conscious and embarrassed by the plaudits, but openly irked only when an over-enthusiastic functionary praises the Pawar family for carrying on the dreams of 8220;Pandit Nehru and Priya-darshini Indira8221;.

8220;I have come here with the hope we can make a difference,8221; she says to the appreciative crowd. Two teachers, Jyoti Bhonsle and Urmila Kamble, graciously translate Marathi for us. 8220;It is a shame that after 60 years of Independence, we still struggle for food, education and good health,8221; Sule says, reminding them of the NCP-Congress divide. She outlines her objectives for development and empowerment8212;her twin goals of education and promotion of self-help groups.

8220;Progress begins at home, so it is important to ensure the mother participates in community development. When she cooks for the mid-day meals, she not only earns a living but also ensures the children go to school, as they are taken care of there. It is women and the youth who will carry on our dreams,8221; she ends her speech, and there is a collective buzz of approval from the attentive and orderly gathering.

An Early Start

SO, how did this BoBo Babe, who once swung from discos to bistros, get fired by this neo-fellow-feeling and speedy benefaction? Sule has led the charmed life of political royals8212;a graduate of micro-biology, she found a husband when her parents arranged her marriage with Sadanand Sule.

8220;We spent a year together before we decided to get married,8221; she says. 8220;It was not as if I had walked in with a tray of chai and poha and my marriage was fixed,8221; she grimaces.

Supriya moved to California with her husband and spent five years there. She attempted post-graduate study in water pollution at the University of California, Berkeley, but abandoned it a year later, and then worked in a landscaping company.

Later, she moved with her husband to Indonesia. 8220;I was the perfect expat wife and I enjoyed every moment with my kids, husband and friends,8221; she says unabashedly. 8220;I played mah-jong every afternoon, went to museums and clubs, and learnt to appreciate family life and values.

8220;Today, my husband runs a legal portal in Mumbai, has a software business, a travel company and shares in restaurants like Indigo in the city.8217;8217;

Supriya is clearly thrilled and energised by the thronging crowds as she weaves her way out. 8220;I am genuinely passionate about my work,8221; she says intensely, 8220;but to improve things, we8217;ve got to have accountability. Everyone in public service8212;NGOs, government officials, politicians8212;has to be accountable. Let8217;s not criticise or blame anybody anymore, let8217;s get on with our job, and make it right.8221;

In a Hurry

THE Pawar legatee wants to be a Powerhouse Putri., she is ambitious, driven, purposeful and resourceful. For starters, in her education-for-all spree, Supriya has tried to bring together all those in the field to exchange ideas and co-ordinate efforts for maximum benefits.

Two months ago, she organised an interaction with educationists from 700 schools across the state in Mumbai, gushes Vijay Kanhekar, a teacher from Parbani, near Aurangabad, and they are working on a disability rights development group for 8216;inclusive education8217;, a pet project, and a sericulture programme for the women8217;s self-help groups. 8220;We have to replicate, not duplicate,8221; is a Supriya mantra.

Supriya is running late but she has some humdrum political obligations before her8212;rushing to appreciate Indapur Vidyalaya8217;s new grounds, inaugurating the Neelkant Clinic in the bustling bazaar and visiting a party leader8217;s home. 8220;Chala, chala, chala hurry, hurry, hurry8221;, she says, before leaping into the SUV for her next meeting at Baramati, 75 km away. She will address students at the family8217;s new enterprise, the Vidya Vikas Pratishthan, a sprawling network of schools and technical colleges.

Refreshingly, there are no garish cut-outs and posters heralding her visit in this orderly town of quiet industry and expanding knowledge city. Her father8217;s power and influence in Baramati is flagrantly evident; enormous funds have poured in to make Baramati an overrun industrial township, with bougainvillea boulevards, three-lane roads, a ring road, bio-tech and art schools, even a Taj Inn.

Dad8217;s daughter

I AM proud of my father,8221; says Supriya, as she enters the cavernous convocation hall of the VVP, momentarily stunned by the 3,000-odd students gathered to hear her. 8220;He believes everyone must earn his own stripes. I run a school and a trust, so does my father. But he never advises me how to run it. He learnt from his own experiences and so will I,8221; she explains. 8220;My mother is the simplest human being, for her the family comes first, I have learned this from her.8221;

But hasn8217;t Pawar always stopped short of going for the jugular, challenging the Nehru-Gandhis but not taking them on? 8220;It8217;s his life,8221; she says airily, 8220;the beauty of life lies in taking risks.8221;

She is candid when she admits she is 8220;impatient for quick results8221;, but says she has imbibed her father8217;s skills for straight-talking. 8220;I too believe in having deep knowledge of what I do. However, I have no problem in admitting I don8217;t know something.8221;

A blunt Supriya wards off questions from the curious, demanding 20-something crowd about a roadmap for agriculture and farmers with a 8220;Forgive me, I do not know much,8217;8217; but is disarming when she tells them that she spent most of her university years in the college canteen, much to her mother8217;s distress, that she dreamed of being a doctor once, that it is important to learn and contribute to people lesser than you, that she is concerned about questions like the rural-urban divide, that an inter-caste marriage is not something to worry about and the like.

Does she have any issues about dynastic politics and progeny rule? Supriya points to her father8217;s decision to groom a second generation leadership and announce it too. Her name did not figure in the first list, which featured the NCP top brass, beginning with her cousin Ajit Pawar, R R Patil, Arun Gujarathi, Chhagan Bhujbal, Vijay Sinh Mohite-Patil, all senior ministers in the state Cabinet. 8220;They are bright and focused people, I am 20 years younger. I have a long way to go,8221; she says, for good measure.

It is another matter that the biggies are ecstatic there are two family contenders now8212;Ajit and Supriya8212;and the prospect of two power centres in the future is only a boon in the political game.

So, is it all work and no play for the political debutante? 8220;Definitely not,8221; she shoots back, 8220;I enjoy my friends and love spending time with them.8217;8217;

Supriya and Sadanand can be spotted dining out with Anil and Tina Ambani, Praful Patel and family, the Birlas, the Thapars, Vijay Mallya, the Abdullahs Omar lived with the Pawars for three years in Mumbai during college years, the Deora boys or Jitin Prasada. Rahul Gandhi? 8220;Never met him,8221; she answers.

And her true calling? 8220;I8217;m a confirmed beach bum. A weekend by the sea, and I8217;m ready for life again.8221;