The parlour confession.

[By Mayank Austen Soofi]

This muggy evening in a public park, she is immersed in a Jonas Jonasson novel. A climate policy professional, Ritu Ahuja agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences.

Your favorite qualities in a man.
Open mindedness, ability to respectfully disagree, honesty and kindness.

Your favorite qualities in a woman.
Supportive and enabler of other women, bravery.

Your favorite occupation.
Chef.

Your idea of misery.
To be subjected to violence, of any kind; to lose the people I love the most.

If not yourself, who would you be?
Gita Gopinath.

Where would you like to live?
Paris, Singapore, Bombay.

Your favorite bird
Crows. Adaptable, fearless.

Your heroes/heroines in real life.
– Jasjit, a friend of mine, is the most fearless and accepting man I’ve known till date. He would be who I’d like to be, if I could.
– My parents, they are the real heroes and I want to be like them in many ways.
– The heroines in my life are my sisters and girlfriends. They are so empowered, smart, independent and kind. I want to be like all of them.

Your heroines in world history.
Razia Sultan, Jahanara and Roshanara (only for the sass and coolness they both had), Gita Gopinanath.

Your favorite food and drink.
Dal Makhani, and cold coffee. Never together though.

Your favorite names.
Nayantara, Vir, Amalta.

The military event you admire the most.
Rescue operations at the time of 26/11 in Mumbai.

The natural talent you’d like to be gifted with.
Diplomacy.

How do you wish to die?
Peacefully in my sleep and before others around me die.

Faults for which you have the most tolerance.
Changing of minds. That is not a fault, but I am the most tolerant to it even if it works against me.

Your motto in life.
You didn’t come this far to only come this far.