I would always look for a spark in the eyes. An attitude. A posture. A language. Possibly this is what defined my interaction with models and actors and extracted from them very often, better expressions than they managed to give out in the normal course of work.

If indeed I put together a portfolio of shots taken over the years, of various young ladies (and men) I can say without hesitation that the collection would be a rather pleasant one. And while most of my models have admitted this in public and in private, I am the type that has never looked for affirmations of any kind.

So why am I concerned today with the public’s inexplicable fascination with Aishwarya Rai Bachan?

Well, let me admit that this lady first came to my attention when my friend the late Dr. Hari Pai talked to me about a community called the Bunts. She had already won a crown or two and was fairly prominent in the media. And I had already decided that I did not like her.

Nothing personal mind you. And not that it made a difference to her or to me. I did not like her. Period.

It had nothing to do with stories about her, her love affairs…her modelling assignments for Philips, Coke (or was it Pepsi) and so on. It had nothing to do with her disastrous performance in a movie called The Mistress of Spice, where, to put things into perspective, I must admit that her lovemaking scene in this film actually put me off sex for a while…she was so bad.

But again, that is my opinion.

Now I am not the type that questions the wisdom of another gentleman when he decides to court someone I do not personally like. I am sure there are things that he sees in them something that I don’t and vice versa. But to say I was disappointed with Abhishek when he decided to marry this girl, would be a definite case of mild understatement. If he was looking for a trophy wife, I was sure there were better trophies around. But hey, this was perhaps at a time when he hadn’t yet matured enough to recognise a good “idea” when he saw one.

My bias possibly was also because of another iconic lady who shared the spotlight with Aishwarya around the same time. The inimitable Sushmita Sen.

Now here was a woman who deserved a second glance. She was tall. Statuesque. Graceful. She was well read, intelligent. And she had a spark in her eyes that lit up the world. She had long hair. Was a Bengali. And had a Hyderabad connection (okay, okay I know that’s really tenuous).

But seriously, she was all about personality. She could laugh. She was obviously sensitive. And she made better use of her titles than most.

And I think that she had what is called Spunk!

So I like Sushmita and am not particularly enamoured with Aishwarya. So what. As I love quoting to myself “Kee fark penda” or “what difference it makes”.

Okay it is an insight into my world view of women. Not in any objectification kind of context. But in a unabashedly opinionated kind of angle.

So I know I get along with women/girls who react, who emote, who participate in life. People who have the same expectations from living that I have. The same “Devil may care” attitude that has defined my life.

But does that mean anything to you? Should it?

I think not. My likes and dislikes are my likes and dislikes. Just as yours are yours. If we are friends you already know this about me, just as I know this about you. We’ve never made a big thing about this. Never read more than necessary into this insight. Never misused the knowledge.

But why am I still asking you to get over Aishwarya? This is not part of any campaign I am mounting for Sushmita. It’s just one of those things.

Now don’t tell me you never have had those moments when you felt that the world deserved to be educated about something that you personally liked or didn’t. Hey, the last few months we have been discussing Modi and Rahul in such detail as if all of us knew the two personally.

Now if you can dissect two gentlemen who you don’t personally know from Adam, and yet delegate the responsibility of running your country, I think you can allow me the freedom of having contradictory opinions about two women who have no role in our nation building or our future. What say you?