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Here are excerpts from the conversation that took place between our Editor Neha Mahajan and celebrity actress/Anchor/TV Personality Mandira Bedi while she was here in New Jersey as the Grand Marshall of the India Day Parade.
As I entered a famous restaurant on Oak Tree Road, I could see Mandira, sitting amongst the who's who of Indian Business Association of Iselin, New Jersey, a place fondly called Little India. With a child like curiosity, Mandira was trying to gather as much as she could of the Indian milieu around. Eating bhel-puri and sipping hot tea, she kept telling me about how surprised she was by the overwhelming response of the crowd that she came face to face with just a little while ago. She was the Grand Marshal of the parade that marked India's 63rd year of Independence, but such a down to earth persona that it hardly felt it was an interview; it was as if two people of same country were sitting together, nostalgic with patriotism in a country, away from their homeland.
NM: Mandira welcome to New Jersey how does it feel here, to be the Grand Marshal of such a large parade outside India.
MB: Very nice! (I could feel the excitement in her eyes). I have been to New Jersey before , a couple of times, but this time it is just so different and special. I had no idea about this huge turnout of people. The entire road was covered with people. I almost felt, I was in India. I felt so privileged to be the Grand Marshal and to cheer the crowd, its just so nostalgic.
NM: Have you ever been to a parade before?
MB: I have some very fond memories of going to watch parade in Delhi, when I was little and then in Mumbai, I just like this whole idea of singing National Anthem before the movie, irrespective of the language or genre of the movie. I completely like the idea, it makes you remember the long and ardent struggle that our forefathers went through, one should always praise and acknowledge what we have got now. I was so excited to see so many people around the parade. I felt more proud to be an Indian and to represent India here. The whole community as if has come together. Indians are very resourceful people, they are champions of entrepreneurship, consciousness and they are also very hardworking people.
NM: Do you feel youth really value Indian Independence today, especially those born here?
MB: There are a number of films being made, and also there is so much awareness today through parades like these; read history, so much is available just a click away. The years of struggle that our forefathers have gone through should not be taken for granted but should be valued. The youth today has to realize the importance of freedom. A world without freedom is jsut unimaginable. They absolutely have no idea, how it feels to be bound and not be able to be free. But I must say one thing, people here in the US, whenever I meet people of Indian origin, they have the rich Indian culture intact in them along with the Great American spirit. The patriotism that I saw here today, its wonderful to see it so intact in their hearts even when they are in a different land altogether.
NM: Interviewing you without a Cricket question, would not be justified. So tell us about your rendezvous with cricket. How did you land up being the Lady of Indian Cricket?
MB: My father and brother both are avid cricket fans. So I too used to watch cricket with them. But I never had any cricket in my school. I used to play a lot of sports though, so one fine day in 2002 I took a flight to Sri Lanka alone, and without even tickets to the Champions Trophy. Finally when I was enjoying the India-England match there, Sony TV who were the official telecasters of the game, contacted me and wondered what I was doing there. They invited me to audition and after very many gruesome rounds, I finally became the co-anchor on Extra Innings. It was not a cake walk, it was a long struggle for me.
NM: How was your first experience?
MB: Cricket anywhere is male chauvinist. They cannot digest the fact that a woman can know about cricket too. I had a very long struggle. In fact for the first entire week of the shoot, I would cry and just wanted to turn it down, but the producers had faith in me, and I too worked hard to prove them right. I wouldn't read what the press had to say. Charu is the mentor of cricket and to work with him, I was so nervous. Since you are live, words that come out cannot be taken back, they cannot be altered. They say heaven and hell is all in your head. After all the criticism I got, I just tuned myself up and things got better. It has been six years since, and things have come a long way. Cricket has become a turning point in my life. It changed my job profile; from a small role in DDLJ, I was walking fashion shows, hosting shows on televison and have shot for some very reputed magazine covers.
She was ready for another set of question when I was signaled to keep the interview short, although I would have loved to ask her much more, finally had to wrap it all up in a quick rapid fire.
Your favorite food: Medu Vada and Arbi ki sabzi
Favorite Designer: Satya Paul (of course!) and Mark Jacobs of NYC. I also enjoy Ritu Kumar and Kiran Uttam Ghosh
Favorite Perfume: Narcisco Rodrigues
Favorite Holiday Destination: Sri Lanka, South Africa, London, NYC
Apart from TV, shows, ramps, cricket and films what else do you do: Theater and reading. I am currently reading Eat, Play, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Fitness mantra: Run on streets when on travel, otherwise gym atleast five days a week.
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