The women we love
Noreen Aslam

BOMBAY—There are women, and then there are women’s women. These alpha girls make not just the men, but the women go wow...
Preity Zinta
She is the girl-on-the-go, bubbling with new ideas, raring to do more. And that’s what differentiates Preity Zinta from her contemporaries —the willingness to do more. Preity has spent a decade in the film industry, and not one day has gone by when she has gone to bed without doing something of consequence. From being a toughie in school to a self-made successful actress, she seems to be a perfect fit when it comes to the modern Indian woman.
However, behind all that bubbliness, chirpiness and cute looks, there is a human being who thanks God everyday for letting her live each day after the Tsunami had hit Phuket. ‘Tsunami did change a lot for me. I lost a friend, I could have been dead and it also taught me the importance of life,’ she had said then. A part of her has changed over the decade. She has learnt to balance love, life and career, and has become a feminist of sorts. Saying no to anything which will help change society for good is difficult for her. ‘Well, I have just been giving people an occasional tip-off to make me the epitome of bravery, no, I am just joking,’ she laughs. Pritam Singh or Basanti, as Akshay Kumar and Abhishek Bachchan call her, can be summed up as a woman with many facets. One Women’s Day is not enough to celebrate this.
Nawazish Ali
It’s easy to forget that this girl’s a guy. Ali Saleem, better known as Nawazish Ali, is his favourite girl and the sexiest one too, as far as he’s concerned. The Pakistani drag queen and popular chat show host prayed, as a little boy, that God would make him a girl. And God answered the prayer, and did a dandy job. Nawazish is a girl’s girl if there ever was one —the stunning sarees that make fashion statements, the outrageous flirting with men, the rose in the hair, the diva presence, the sexy poses.
But Ali Saleem is a Women’s Day icon for many other reasons too. She —and this is the preferred pronoun, thank you, is smart enough to grill both politicians and filmstars, strong enough to stand turbulent Pakistan and love it nevertheless, and warm enough to make a friend at just ‘Hello’. She’s a proud party animal —’I love to hit the bar, bar bar’, she has said and pretty cool about her sexuality. She once said, ‘I don’t know why we even discuss the issue. I always tell people I’m try-sexual!’ Her hot crushes change every month. She cares two hoots if the world and its uncle cry themselves hoarse in outrage— she does exactly what she wants to and does it queen-size. The frills and tucks are girly enough, but Nawazish has warmth, strength, a wicked sense of humour and compassion. She’s so full of sass, naughtiness and pure gumption that ‘real’ women could take a cue or two from her. Most importantly, whoever and whatever she is, she absolutely adores herself. Nawazish always was and is a woman, and much more —she’s a girl’s best friend too.
Kareena Kapoor
She has broken every cardinal rule and lived to tell the tale. But such is the Teflon-coated image of Kareena Kapoor that nothing sticks. Not even the charge of publicly leaving her boyfriend of years, Shahid, to take up with the rake-around-town, Saif Ali. And like everybody and their grandaunt know, she played out the romance —tattoo and all —on 24x7 TV.
Then why, on Women’s Day at that, she would be looked on as an icon? The answer is simple —because she could, because she dared to follow her heart, because she did it with pizzazz. On the day she won the Filmfare Best Actress award, there were two people she thanked. One was Saif Ali Khan, who got a passionate clinch, and a thank you. The second was Shahid for standing by her and Jab We Met. As usual, Bebo didn’t bother hiding anything under the carpet; she played it out on TV, as always.
Men are supposed to be scared of such an alpha female, she believes in speaking her mind —sometimes bordering on cleverness, but Kareena has bucked that trend too. Her male fan base is increasing, and women just can’t understand it. And Bebo can’t be bothered. She is already working on her size-zero figure to keep men where their eyes are. No homilies about I-am-beautiful-inside for her, she is happy with her sex kitten image. She has men by their eyeballs (well, more) and that kind of power matters. She is not the most politically correct as far as female icons go, but just take away a few layers and you will be surprised to know how many women will gleefully exchange places with her.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
‘If you are going to keep staring at me, I might as well introduce myself,’ Hillary had famously told Bill at a library when they had met for the first time. That’s the effervescent Hillary Rodham Clinton for all those women who would do anything to swap places with her. Knowing when to use her husband as a toilet-paper roll and when to use him as a crowd puller, none could have belled Bill better than she has. No, not even Monica. Being the one to handle the ‘White House Intern’ with a dignified silence, she was quick to tell the world how she punished her wayward husband by sleeping in a separate room. Moral of the story: leave not your pet even if he strays. The Cecilia Sarkozys of the world could have taken a lesson or two from her.
Not content with being the first lady, she is aspiring to be the first woman president of the US. A cleavage-baring dress and a barrage of bad comments later, she has shown everyone that she is still in the reckoning for the presidential race since she is the one who ‘is wearing the pants.’ The Obamas may take a bow and leave. One never knows what the firebrand female may come up with today —on the International Women’s Day. A school to teach the women of the world the art of optimal utilisation of resources at hand to increase your clout, perhaps?