The balancing act
From someone who’s lived the life of a regular girl-next-door, Tabbu’s life changed completely after she got married to the current MLA, Gandhinagar and Bengaluru city Congress president, Dinesh Gundu Rao.
Taking us through a journey of how it all began she says, “I met Dinesh in 1991 through common friends and got married three years later. Dinesh was a student of BMS engineering college then. There was opposition in the initial days from family members because of religious differences, but we sorted it out.”
In a blissful state now, after many years of marriage, and two pretty daughters Amina and Ananya, Tabbu is a busy lady who keeps herself occupied with social service. “I work a lot in the constituency and organise health camps for the underprivileged along with computer literacy programmes. I also help people set up small-scale industries under the R Gundu Rao Trust. It helps a great deal in making them self-sufficient,” shares Tabbu.
The politician’s wife has no qualms in confessing, “Being married to a politician has both good and bad sides to it. I have accepted it as a part and parcel of my life. Dinesh is so busy that we hardly get any time together. That’s partly why I got myself involved in the party work. Now things are fine and we see each other more often than we used to. I am a people’s person and thanks to my work, I get to meet a lot of new people everyday. I believe it gives me a better perspective on my own life.
Tabbu admits that walking the corridors of power isn’t all hunky dory. Elaborating on the darker shades of her life she admits, “Whatever people may talk about politicians clamouring for power, the truth is that he/she also has to perform at the end of the day. Otherwise, why would people elect him or her year after year? A politician’s life can be rough at times. We have to maintain a public decorum and that makes it very difficult to live life on your own terms and be yourself.”
Does it also include being asked for undue favours? Very sternly she replies, “One has to be accessible to people. Since I have connections, people have certain expectations from me. I do my bit when as and when I can. Helping others has not been a problem, but I don’t go out of my way for anybody. If it’s not too much of a hassle then I do it. It also depends on the favours they ask.”
Talking about how the couple takes time to unwind, she says, “We used to have our usual family holidays and Sundays earlier, but now it’s been really busy off late. Once the elections are over in a few months, we might get some time together. My holidays can never be planned in advance. I still don’t know what I’m doing on New Year’s, but I’m not complaining.”
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