BHARATI PAWASKAR
She has stopped counting her visits to Goa after her seventh visit and now she isn’t even aware of how many times she has travelled to Goa for holidaying. “I love beaches and Goa is full of them,” smiles Bollywood actress and model Huma Quereshi who is currently in Goa as a brand friend for Airbnb that offers lodging, homestays and personalised tourist experiences across the globe.
Huma recollects that her first visit to Goa was when she was in college and that was her ever first independent travel without her family. Huma’s college friends decided to go holidaying and chose Goa. Huma’s parents allowed her to accompany them. “They thought that I was grown up and would take care of myself, so they let me go. Since then I have had many fond memories of Goa and each new visit keeps adding to that stock. Travels offer cherished memories,” says Huma who looks at travel as an opportunity or a window to look into the lives of the people, allows you to feel the vibe of the place and offers you a slice of the local culture.
For Mandira Bedi, a celebrity actor, anchor, model and sports presenter, travel means tranquility. Associating travel with freedom and independence, she revels in the unknown and immerses herself in new cultures. Mandira has been currently hosting Airbnb launch events which brought her to Goa. When asked how challenging it is to switch on and off through the different, diverse and distinct roles that her multiple careers offer, she simply smiles.
Beginning her career in advertising, Mandira landed up acting in ‘Shanti’, the first ever daily soap of Indian television shown on Doordarshan, followed by ‘Kyun Ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thee’. Her versatile journey from small screen to big screen credited her with movies like ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ to the recent ‘The Tashkent Files’ that proved her as a multitalented actress. “My passion for watching live cricket matches bagged me opportunities to compere ‘Extra Innings’ on Sony Television. And my appearance in a wide array of designer sarees eventually led to the birth of my own lable,” shares Mandira who did two web series too in 2018 and 2019.
Both theseBollywood divas, Mandira, a post-graduate from Sophia Polytech from Mumbai University and Huma, a graduate in History Honours from Delhi University - have their independent views and opinions about life, career and travel experiences. Her interest in History, sociology, English has led Huma to inculcate a habit of reading. “I like to read a lot. Reading broadens your perception, knowledge of the world, and your sense of responsibility as a human being,” quips Huma, who had a brief stint with an NGO too. For her, travel is all about self-love, a few dedicated moments to re-focus and to let calmness prevail. She remembers travelling to Kashmir to meet her grandparents. “It was four years ago that I last visited Kashmir. Though my grandparents are no more, our ancestral house and relatives are still there,” shares Huma.
When asked why she didn’t become a restauranteur like her father Saleem who runs a chain of restaurants- Saleem’s, Huma underlines her love for acting since her college days. It was during her college that she joined a theatre group where she met her mentor, N K Sharma, who spotted the talent in her. Sharma made her realise that she can act. That’s where she decided to utilise this talent. She came to Mumbai with the dream and an offer in a movie titled Junction. Though this debut film never took off, Huma’s road to success was paved in this metro. Her entry in films in 2012 gave her exposure not only to Indian film industry but also to Cannes, which is a platform for talent, glamour, art, fashion designing, marketing etc. “I first went to Cannes in 2012 with the premier of Gangs of Wasseypur and then for the past two years (2018 and 2019) as a brand ambassador for a liquor brand.” she maintains.
Mandira is vocal about her multiple choices in careers and agrees that being good at one job brought her more offers in diverse fields. She finds anchoring a live show quite challenging, though the script is pre-written. “It depends upon what one person in front of you says, that you have to quickly pick up the tread and link it to the conversation of the other person, coaxing him or her open up on that topic or issue and at the same time, making everyone comfortable. For that, knowing what’s happening around you and upgrading accordingly is important,” adds Mandira who has accepted Telgu films like Saaho, Romantic, Ezham Mudra and Adangathe. “Thanks to my short hair, I am getting negative roles,” she quips sportingly and adds in the same breath that she has proved herself through two plays, one of which performed 150 shows, and the other, 300.
