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The most flamboyant Maharani Travolta’s tastes
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Diabetics married to discord What do actor Kamalahasan, politician Sushma Swaraj, cricketer Wasim Akram and VJ Gaurav Kapoor have in common? Well, all four have Type I diabetes. Type I diabetes is caused by the destruction of beta cells in the pancreas, which produces insulin. This is different from Type II diabetes, which is linked to a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits. Incidentally, 90 per cent of the world’s diabetics are the Type II variety. While diabetes is a common ailment, afflicting as many as 35 million people in India alone, the social fallout is perhaps the least discussed aspect of the disease. Yet, for a majority of those who suffer from Type I diabetes, it is a reality they have to face in their daily lives. A recent survey on marriage-related problems among diabetics — carried out by the Delhi Diabetes Research Centre (DDRC) among 2,000 people in age group 19 to 31 — revealed that finding a suitable life partner is among the most common concerns for a diabetic. Not only does the Type I diabetic patient find it difficult to be accepted as a life partner but more than 90 per cent of those who were married faced problems in their marital life. Confrontation, separation and divorce were common among them. The survey revealed that of the married women who were Type I diabetic, nearly 50 per cent were sent back to their parental home within a year of marriage. Nearly, 25 per cent of the diabetic married women surveyed lost interest in taking care of themselves, much less monitoring the disease. This happened mainly because the financial assistance to do so was not forthcoming at her husband’s home. Death due to health-related complications was also not unknown. Stigma and misconceptions persist. According to Dr A. K. Jhingan, Chairperson, DDRC, there is a fear that diabetes-affected persons cannot have normal and healthy children. In fact, more often than not, diabetic men chose to remain silent about their disease before entering matrimony. Jhingan says what was most worrisome was the lack of sufficient knowledge about the disease. “The social implications of diabetes for the Indian subcontinent need special attention because of the region’s prevalent culture of arranged marriages where families do not enquire about the prospective bride or groom’s genetic history. This is compounded by a lack of awareness on diabetes,” he says. The problem — which is especially acute in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh — can only be addressed through a mass movement, focused health campaigns and private and public sector involvement. India, with its figure of 35 million diabetics, also has the dubious reputation of being the “diabetes capital of the world”. At the current growth rate, the number of diabetics in the country is likely to touch 57 million by 2020. On its part, the Delhi Diabetes Research Centre (DDRC is a private outfit established in 1985 by a team of six Delhi-based doctors) with its pool of 10 doctors, including three dieticians and two diabetes specialists, has been regularly organising public awareness campaigns. The Centre has also been holding the Diabetes Health Mela for the last four years to raise awareness on this issue. The Centre is also in the process of establishing a matrimonial bureau, where Type I diabetics, who are keen to seek out life partners, can register themselves. “It will be a platform for these patients to seek alliances in an enlightened way,” asserts Jhingan. The Centre already has 300 Type I and 22,000 Type II diabetics registered with it, and these people are kept posted about new developments and research on the disease. DDRC also conducts workshops where celebrities are invited to speak on the subject. Gaurav Kapoor, Sushma Swaraj, Wasim Akram, and Kamalahasan — all diabetics — have been invited to various DDRC forums to educate the public on the
issue.— WFS
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The most flamboyant Maharani
There have been many
flamboyant maharajas and nawabs during the British rule. But we do not
hear much about their wives — the maharanis and begums. This is
because till the 1940s, very few wives of the Indian rulers came out
of purdah and whenever they reached a railway station or a
ceremonial pandal, huge screens were already there to shield
them from onlookers. But, there was a colourful lady, Maharani Sita
Devi of Baroda, who threw all these taboos out of the window and led a
glitzy life for nearly 40 years in the European principality of
Monaco, the playground of world’s celebrities and idle rich. In
1943, Maharaja Pratapsinh Gaekwad of Baroda attended Madras races and
met a (albeit married) woman who made him lose all sense of
proportion. The lady, the wife of the zamindar of Vayyur, reciprocated
the adoration. But as yet Indian society was not willing to let a
Maharaja live openly with another man’s wife. The ruler’s lawyers
sat together and soon the lady had converted to Islam. Then she
implored her zamindar husband to get converted to Islam, as she was
anxious, that he should have the benefit of the excellence of her new
religion. It is said that her husband did not even bother to react to
this stage show. A week later, the lady had obtained divorce from her
Hindu husband under Islamic canons. She was free. Scarcely had she
obtained the divorce that she converted herself back to Hinduism by
Arya Samaj rights. And then her lover, the Baroda Maharaja, married
her despite having a highly respected Maharani, with four of his
children, waiting for him in Baroda. Even though the British were
used to the vagaries of the Indian princes, they found this drama too
much. Further, as per the laws of Baroda state — ordained by the
illustrious Maharaja Sayaji Rao, the grandfather of Pratapsinh —
nobody in Baroda state could take another spouse if the earlier one
was alive. The Viceroy summoned the Maharaja and told him that he had
violated the law by his action. The Maharaja replied, that on the day
of his marriage, Maharani Sita Devi, his new wife, was an adult and
unattached Hindu lady. Further, he told the Viceroy that the laws
forbidding bigamy were applicable only to the subjects of Baroda state
and that, he as their ruler, was exempted from this ban. Legal
advisers told the Viceroy that the Indian ruler was correct and all
that the British Government could do was to not address the new
Maharani as Her Highness. Further, the British officials attending
functions in Baroda were asked to leave the assemblage if Maharani
Sita Devi came to the hall. But none of these interdicts bothered
the royal couple. By 1946, after World War II had ended, the couple
was free to go to Europe. As the famous principality of Monaco
(French-controlled) had been spared the war ravages, they chose that
city to buy a magnificent mansion and settle down there. Then cabin
loads of the great treasures of Baroda state (the Maharaja was known
in those days to be the eighth richest man in the world) were
transferred to Monaco. As a Maharaja he had every right to take the
valuables, wherever he wanted. Till today, we do not know the full
extent of the loot of Baroda treasury by Maharani Sita Devi. The list
was included the famous Pearl carpet, a seven-strand necklace of
priceless pearls, and the famous three-strand diamond necklace with
the famous Star of the South 128.80 carat diamond and the English
Dresden of 78.53 carat as the pendant. In 2005 the value of these two
diamonds were estimated at $736,000 per carat. By now the western
media began to call her the India’s Wallis Simpson. Wallis Simpson
— the Duchess of Windsor — had also swapped husbands. Then in 1947
freedom dawned for India and with other princely states Baroda had to
accede to the Indian Union. As the Government of India took over the
treasury and tried to separate the state-owned treasures and personal
jewels of the Gaekwad, they were shocked to find that literally
nothing was left. They forced the Gaekwad to bring back a number of
valuables, including the seven-strand pearl necklace — of which one
strand had been snipped away. Soon the foolhardy Gaekwad provoked the
government to depose him. But in the far-off Europe Maharani Sita Devi
was not worried. She promptly transferred many of these jewels to her
name. However, it is doubted whether any of the Baroda treasures
could have been rescued, for Sita Devi adored having her jewels reset.
From the late 1940s to the ’60s, the New York and Paris branches of
Van Cleef & Arpels remounted thousands of her old stones in new
settings. In 1953, the famous New York jeweller Harry Winston bought
from Sita Devi a pair of anklets featuring cabochon emeralds and huge
rose-cut diamonds, which he fashioned into a necklace. Winston then
sold this jewellery to the Duchess of Windsor who, in 1957, wore it to
a New York ball which was attended by Sita Devi. While the other
guests were gasping in wonder at the beauty and size of the diamond
choker, Sita Devi was heard commenting loudly that they had also
looked very nice on her feet. It was a bizarre meeting of the two Mrs
Simpsons of the East and West, each feted by society but also widely
disliked. Seething with humiliation, the Duchess returned the necklace
to Winston. According to jewellery historians (John Adamson &
Katherine Prior), ultimately Sita Devi’s glamour and riches faded.
She and Pratapsinh separated, and their marriage was dissolved in
1956, the year in which she became a national of Monaco. In 1968
Pratapsinh died in exile in London, and Sita Devi spent her remaining
years dodging tax officials of several countries, with only her son,
Princie, for companionship. His life in her gilded cage ended
dramatically one night in May 1985, when after his 40th birthday, he
slit his throat with a knife and brought to a close aimless years of
alcoholism, drug addiction and seedy sexual adventures. Soon after,
Sita Devi herself died in Neuilly, an incapacitated and cantankerous
old woman. Her obituary read ‘HH Maharani Sita Devi, born 1917,
married 1stly, married 2ndly, 1943 (div. 1956), HH Maharaja Sir
Pratapsinh Rao Gaekwad of Baroda, and had issue by both husbands. She
died in 1986 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France’. In the history of India,
she remains the most flamboyant Maharani. The jewellery world lost
traces of the Star of the South and English Dresden diamonds - until
they emerged recently in Amsterdam and were bought by the famous
jeweller firm of Cartier. Today her jewels occasionally appear in
international auctions, but much of the loot remains hidden with
private millionaires. But the pearl carpet was intact, and it was
thought to have been kept in a bank vault in Geneva. The treasure’s
history was updated in January 1994, when a news item appeared in
Indian and Arabian newspapers, that it had been sold to an Arab prince
for $31 million. — MF
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“I often look back at those days with fondness. But I don’t think I’d dare even try to wear those outfits now. I love my food,” the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying. Another reason the actor is in no hurry to shed the extra pounds is because wife Kelly Preston finds his flab attractive. He also let on that his actress wife had put on less weight than him when she was pregnant with the couple’s child. “I know I have a love handle or two, but I’m lucky that at this stage in my career, it’s not hurting the work I do. And my wife loves the extra meat on me. At the time Kelly was pregnant I gained 25lb. She put on less weight than I did,” he said. And though he’s lost weight for roles that call for a slimmer man, Travolta admits that he hates being on a diet. “But I hate dieting. I’ve done it for some movies although as soon as they’re over I like to get back to my food,” he added.
— ANI
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John Travolta may not be that slim, athletic man anymore, but the actor admits that he loves food too much too start bothering about his waistline.
Travolta revealed that though he looks back in fondness at the days when he had women swooning over him, he wouldn’t trade in his thickening waist for a slimmer body if it meant giving up food.