‘Tolerant’ Indians wow Oprah

IANS/Mumbai

US talk show host Oprah Winfrey looks on as she walks with Australian author Gregory Roberts through a lane in Mumbai yesterday. Roberts is best known for his novel Shantaram. He is a former heroin addict and convicted bank robber who escaped from a prison in 1980, and fled to India where he lived for ten years

International talk show queen Oprah Winfrey yesterday visited a slum on the second day of her visit here. And she is praising the country’s close-knit family system, a rarity in the US.“For my new show called the Oprah’s Next Chapter, I am doing a story all about India, and I wanted to see all aspects of India to see a broad view of what it is like to be an Indian. It is very revealing and I would say amazing to me ... so I met the people from Bollywood and other aspects,” Winfrey told reporters when she visited a slum area near Regal theatre in Colaba yesterday. “What I love the most about this country is their tolerance ... How the families learn to love and live together! When I was in America and talking to famous people, I would ask how you live with your parents ... now I see how you do it,” she added.The 57-year-old landed in Mumbai on Monday. Among the first things she did was meet the daughter of Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and her husband Abhishek Bachchan, nicknamed Beti B. After spending more than an hour at the Bachchan residence, Winfrey attended a party organised by socialite Parmeshwar Godrej on Monday night. She wore an orange and golden sari for the party, and teamed it with golden bangles. Winfrey confirmed the sari was by designer Tarun Tahiliani, and that she would soon wear designs by the popular designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee too.Winfrey is primarily here to shoot for her new show Next Chapter, which will see her travelling around the world and interviewing celebrities. In India, she will interview spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.“(In India) I’ll be interviewing Deepak Chopra. I’ve never seen India before. I actually came to meet Chopra, who’s a friend,” said Winfrey.She is planning to devote five hours of her show to stories on India, as she said: “I’m not just doing one story, I’m doing five hours on India.”