Rendezvous with Queen of Hearts: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

By Raj Gondaliya

I just like to share my experience of meeting Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Melbourne last month. We all know Aishwarya as an actress but I just like to say as a person, she is very humble and a warm person.

My wife and I were lucky to be at right spot at right time, Aishwarya was getting ready for an interview with Rajeev Masand, we asked for a photo with her and I can’t believe how considerate she was. I think her interview was going for half an hour and she didn’t want us to wait till her interview finished so she asked us to come forward to pose for a photo before her interview.

We had an opportunity to have a quick chat with her, it was such a pleasure talking to her. She’s been in the industry long enough and she is still grounded and I believe it’s because of the family values that she’s imbibed from her parents. It was good to see Aaradhya, her daughter at Federation Square with her during flag hoisting ceremony while Aishwarya was to attend the Film Festival during her trip to Melbourne.

What I found inspiring from her is she is a hands-on mother and balancing her work life and personal life. I think it’s inspiring for all working couples with kids, especially women living abroad where generally it’s difficult for women to be a house wife, to be a mother and to maintain a work life balance. It’s good to see in her she’s not just only career focused person. On the internet blogs I’ve read that she even takes her daughter along wherever she had to go for her work-related commitments, be it brand endorsements or appearance at Cannes. We like to think being Aishwarya it would be easier for her to maintain work life balance but I guess she would have her own challenges at her own level, life is not problem free for anyone. I think it’s inspiring for women how she has maintained a dignified status as a daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, mother and above all- a woman.

It would not be wrong even if we call her a super-woman.