As far as I can recall, the best stories are narrated by women. As children, one remembers a wrinkled face keeping us spellbound by means of stories till we fell asleep almost every night. Women have stories written on their faces. They carry their own pain and also, the pain of others. The classic novel, Umrao Jaan by the poet, Mirza Hadi Ruswa begins with “what is more enjoyable, the story of my life, the life I have lived, or the world I live in. Or the story of the world”. An actor lives these stories…creating characters into legends, and, in the process, becoming legends themselves. They are the muses for writers and composers and, of course, directors.

I have always been inspired by women as carriers of culture, symbols of