Manjul Gupta and Swati Gupta
BENGALURU : I am a big fan of women! Not very surprisingly considering I belong to the she/her (just being very relevant and ‘litt’ using all these binary terms) category myself. But as truth be told, growing up as the runt in my family brat-pack, I was surrounded by women who were strong, loyal, committed and compassionate. I could use many more adjectives to describe them but these terms seem to encapsulate most of qualities that they had.
The lady who impacted me the most was my mother, who did the unthinkable by cocking a snook at her very Pathan background and marrying the love of her life, my father (a Bengali Brahmin officer and gentleman) in 1947! They were married in London, where her family had sent her to study medicine and (luckily for her) my father was also posted.
They had a ceremony with a Christian priest and a slew of very important dignitaries, who supported their union in those troubling times. My father often (jokingly) swore that the priest asked him multiple times whether he wanted to take this woman (my mother) as his ‘awful’ wedded wife! Now I know where I developed our sense of humour from!
The army was my parents family and my mother chose to return ‘to her native’ (as many of our ‘natives’ would fondly refer to as going home), India. Sometimes my mom’s eyes would glisten with tears as she recounted how at the birth of my older siblings, my father was invariably posted to the frontlines defending our borders.
She was alone in the hospital and returned to a locked home with a new born in her arms. She came from a large gregarious family and at the time she needed them the most she was by herself...no mother or the man she so dearly loved to comfort her. But she would shake off those errant tears and busy herself, taking care of her various charities, bringing up three children mostly on her own and giving us value systems, education, social skills and exposure to different aspects of the world.
Without the support of an extended family, we learned how to be independent, forthright, strong and compassionate. She had many firsts to her credit. She was the first woman in Bangalore to ride a scooter, the first lady HAM operator in India, the first woman president of the blood bank and many more. She taught me to never be afraid of the truth, to stand up for myself and to be loyal, strong and ‘grace
under fire’.
Everywhere I turn, my heart bursts as I see women claiming their space. Manjul Gupta is a well-known success story, but I always marvel at the way she has so seamlessly encompassed her whole family, daughter-in-law and son-in-law included, into the beauty empire that she has built, where now, her family contribute their unique skills to the business and to each other. It’s always a joy to be invited into her welcoming home where she can don the mantle of a gracious hostess as easily as she can be an astute business person. She epitomises the term ‘Inclusiveness and diversity’…not only as a business principle, but an important life lesson too.
The young and dynamic Deepti Kat (love her nomenclature) is technically a friend of my young-adult children. But strangely enough is my compadre too. I met her when she was a partner at the restaurant ‘Lady Baga’ and remember being impressed, both by her smashing looks and business acumen. Well now, she is a partner at the newest hip-spot ‘Secret Stories’, a massive three-storied space serving nouvelle world cuisine, including Indian! I loved the way she graciously lunched with us always keeping an eagle eye out for any lapse in operations by the staff. It’s no secret that Secret Stories is already the talk of town and is going places…
Way to go, Ladies!
Rubi Chakravarti
Writer, actor and funny girl
