Women's power at Sushma's high tea

With warm hugs and handshakes under a pleasant spring sun with some delectable eats to add the extra zest, prominent women personalities -- including former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and film stars of yore Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan -- gathered at an event organised by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Tuesday to mark International Women's Day.

Dressed in a light pink saree, Sushma Swaraj personally greeted all the invitees, including women media persons, and women officials of her ministry, with a warm handshake and a "Happy Women's Day!".

In fact, the few men present, including senior officials of the ministry, looked awkward amidst the overwhelming presence of women on the lawns of Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan.

Attired in colourful and elegant sarees and salwar kameez, the women MPs and ministers mingled with the invited guests, including some women diplomats.

While Dikshit, Kirron Kher, Supriya Sule, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, and others chatted among themselves, union minister Maneka Gandhi stood apart. She was later joined by women journalists.

There was Shaina NC, the Bharatiya Janata Party's spokesperson, and minister Uma Bharati, attired in saffron, and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

In a short speech, as "food for thought", before the eats began, Sushma Swaraj remarked that there was a "kind of imbalance" in society, with some women reaching the top positions as achievers, while there are many women who are underprivileged and exploited.

She said women should help extend a helping hand to remove the imbalance in society.

Sushma Swaraj later exchanged a warm hug with Sheila Dikshit.

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8, but the minister held the event on Tuesday to mark the occasion. - IANS