Shobhaa De turns 69 today and if it were up to her, she’d quip in right about now with a risque spin on the milestones she has achieved. That’s her: the first female who created her own brand of “bitchy journalism”– as the trolls would call it–back in the 70s and 80s with her ‘Stardust’ magazine; the first Indian woman to appear on French Vogue as a supermodel in the 60s; socialite, best-selling author, journalist, mother of six. The list goes on.
At a time when high-society women were as good as the pearls they wore, De was forcing India into talking about sex and feminism. She has never minced her words– not about sex, politics, celebrities or juicy gossip from within the glitzy socialite circles of posh Mumbai. And now, she on Twitter! In 140 characters, she shouts down trolls, calls out politicians and lets the world know about her still-glamourous lifestyle.
All this, with the radiance of a thirty-year-old; but how?
Oh I just soak myself in vinegar every night and eat iron filings for breakfast. I’ve said earlier on a talk show, am beginning to feel like a medical miracle or a pickled gherkin!Shobhaa De, in an interview on her 60th birthday
Happy birth-de Shobhaa!
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