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Doing Her Bit
Rossellini's Boy
Politically Correct
Meghna Uncovered
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"We
all felt so tiny in the amphitheatre of war," dancer Sonal Mansingh
moaned last week. Moved by the realisation, she called a press meet in Delhi to recount
how she "did her bit" for the soldiers in Kargil: performed in a hangar, told
jokes and sang Hindi film songs for the injured in hospitals. As she doled out
Sonal-in-Kargil snapshots to the press, she added: "The glamorous people went
visiting for photo ops. I actually entertained the soldiers." Actually. 
India's not a fad for Gil
Rossellini. Son of the late Italian film-maker Roberto Rossellini (remembered as
much for his landmark cinema as for his marriage to Hollywood legend Ingrid Bergman) and
the Bengali-born Sonali Dasgupta, Gil was in Delhi last week. When he visited in the '80s,
he made some documentaries for Italian TV including The Tomb of Jesus Christ in Kashmir
and The Magic World of Indian Cinema. This time, perhaps another such series and a
feature. More important, says the 42-year-old who was born in Mumbai, "I always found
it very consoling to come to India. There is a feeling that I'm at home." So he is. 
As her party gears up for elections, Najma
Heptulla has another battle on her hands. The Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson has
been made acting president of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, the plenary policy-making
body of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organisation of parliaments.
And she's standing for elections in October. "In the IPU's 110-year history,"
she says, "I'm the first woman to preside over the council." As for October,
well, "IPC has a gender commitment" and "there's no other candidate so far,
and I'm confident that Inshallah I'll be elected." God, and the other members,
willing. 
Meghna Reddy ko publicity mangta hai. But
this is the best she's ever got. The former Mangta Hai veejay is on the August cover of
National Geographic magazine along with mama Reddy. The picture of mom in a sari and
Meghna in a peekaboo figure-hugger goes with an article on changes in traditional
families. How did it happen? "Out of the blue they called and said they wanted to
feature us," says papa, who appears inside with Meghna's sisters. They agreed.
Reddily.