Barkha Dutt: The New Age 'Brave' Woman

Life

oi-Anwesha Barari

By Anwesha Barari

Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 12:12

Barkha Dutt is the face of new liberated Indian woman. This unbelievably brave woman can do anything, go the war front or Taliban infested Afghanistan. There is absolutely nothing in her 'can't do' list. Where did the making of this famous Indian woman begin.

Growing Up With A Role Model..
Barkha Dutt is the daughter of an Air India officer and Prabha Dutt, a popular journalist in the 60s and 70s. So she had all the inspiration she needed right at home. She had an exceptionally good education wherein she went to Modern High School and St. Stephen College in Delhi for a Bachelors in English Literature. She completed her higher education in Mass Communication from the prestigious Jamia Millia University and then off she went to Columbia which is arguably the best school of Journalism in the world! She a member of the board at Columbia now many years after she passed out and created ripples in the world media.

Path Breaking Career..
She started as a common reporter in the early 1990s and little did anybody know she would shoot to fame the way she did. In 1999 came the Kargil border skirmish but among the public it was open war. She was the brave woman who went to the war front in Kargil and lived with the soldiers there to cover the war first hand. This was India's first experience of watching 'live' military action and the rest is history. The telecasts from Kargil done by her became a national phenomenon and is responsible for spearheading 24 hours news channels in India. Thousands of teenaged girls in average Indian households had a new female role model. They wanted to be like that girl with a short haircut clad in jeans and kurtas, covering the change of history!

Since Kargil..
As they say nothing succeeds like success. Barkha Dutt got a war heroes welcome after Kargil and went on to join the club of most famous journalists in India and the World. She has covered every event or story of national importance since then being in the forefront of national television news. She has interviewed every important foreign delegate or celebrity who has come to India. The story of her success begins with valour and ends in glory. She is now an Editor-Partner in NDTV, one of India's prime news channels and hosts the popular show 'We The People'.

Accolades and Tributes..
She is now officially Padma Shri Barkha Dutt as this great civilian honour was bestowed upon her by the Indian government recognising her service to the nation. But her biggest compliment probably comes from being depicted in two very popular Bollywood movies. The character of Romilla Dutta in the movie Laskya and the role of feisty journalist in No One Killed Jessica are based on her.

An undeniably brave woman and a great professional who has left her mark on history.