She’s a little sad having to miss a winter holiday with the two people in the world she loves most — grandchildren Ella and Jah — for business czarina Maureen Wadia’s finding it tough to take time out for a break from a beauty pageant and a reality TV series.
She’s also in the midst of writing her autobiography that she says will make people sit up and take notice! “It’s going to be quite something, I can tell you that…,” she smiles.
That she has, having encountered plausibly all of life’s lessons in corporate-dom through a decade of her pageants, hospital and charity work. “Changing lives has been my biggest gift —it’s what gets me up in the morning. I’m no saint but I’m trying to live 26 hours a day,” she states.
Maureen’s also openly disdainful of the perception of wealth in society today. “We’ve come to that stage where it’s obnoxious, really, people talking of their cars, homes. To me, a home is where your biggest jewellery is — your family. Nusli and I have been blessed with two lovely kids and are a family of over-achievers, but we like to laugh over normal things,” she reveals.
Her grandchildren provide equal joy. “I do gardening, go swimming and bicycle with them too. I love it when they say ‘come on gramma, let’s dance’,” she laughs.
If anything gets to Maureen it’s the “bovine attitude” in society that she’d like to see changing. “It’s the chalta hai thing, which is shocking! Look at what I call the Commonwealth disaster. Did we have to wash our dirty linen in public? And I find too much politics creeping into areas where it shouldn’t be. For instance, if you approve a syllabus I don’t understand how you can withdraw it?
Sadly, we have no accountability and therein lies the danger,” she ends.
