With 60 as the new 40, and 80 as the new 60, and… you get the picture, not only are the times, but even ‘ages’ they are a-changin’. And no one has made this visibly more obvious than the lady in red – t-shirt – jeans and pumps, holding a football instead of a puja thaali, flanked by four strapping footballers who appeared in a full-front page ad in ET on Saturday telling us with a flashbulb smile to watch the final of this season’s India Super League – Nita Ambani.
At 59 and counting, Ambani, in her ISL ‘Let’s Football!’ tee and sleek black hair, looks more ‘in the league’ than promoting it as its chairperson. Making the cool, sporty grandma to Prithvi, the two-year-old child of Mukesh and Nita’s eldest son Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta, the poster girl for the new, age-defying soccer grandmom.
And this is not just about how she looks half her age, but how she is what she looks – putting herself in the centre of a field not usually conjuring up grannies: sports, that too a fast-paced, fitness-is-crucial contact sport like football. This sure ain’t tambola at the club on Sundays.
Much of the philanthropist and businesswoman’s ‘what you see’ quotient boils down to ‘what you get’ when one pays special attention to two things one doesn’t usually associate with grandparents: a fitness and diet regime, far removed from the cliched check-ups and physiotherapy. Workouts and gymming may not be considered regular daadi activities, but Ambani is tangible proof that one can ‘push back the ages’ if one puts one’s mind to keeping the body shipshape. Swimming, dancing, yoga, along with regular intakes of fruits, seeds and reportedly two glasses of beetroot juice every day make for one natty nan. #Let’sDaadi!
