When you’re no more a First Lady, life is suddenly full of options. Throwing diplomatic caution to the winds, you can now do all the things your husband or the media would have frowned upon. You can retire graciously to a country manor. Get comfortable in matronly tweeds. Chair the local save-the-sperm-whale society. Join curry classes. Charge a suitable fee for cutting-the-ribbon at a charity do. Knit and dream of the first grandchild to arrive. Or like Hillary, throw your hat in the ring and contest the next elections.

Can you imagine Cherie Blair doing any of the above? Not the Cherie who topped her A levels. Not the London School Of Economics graduate with a first class degree. Not the lawyer known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, the English barrister.
But think of this. Could Cherie ever have imagined that life after 10 Downing Street would become, oh horrors, cher (expensive in French) rather than continuing to be Cherie (darling in ditto language)! Everyone expected former prime minister,Tony Blair, to go straight for the lecture circuit. What did the political face of rockin’ Britain do instead ? He got guilt pangs about the Iraq War. To redeem himself, used-to-be-tony, Tony has become unpaid peace negotiator in the Middle East. Instead of the millions he could make by charging a minimum of US $ 1,25,000 on the US lecture circuit. Just like one time buddy Bill Clinton did.
Tony Blair’s pension of £ Stg 117,500 per annum is not going to cover the annual £ Stg 2,40,000 mortgage of the Blairs’ London and Bristol residences. Nor is the Blair Foundation showing any signs of taking off. If you log on to blair-foundation.co.uk, you will be led to another website featuring Tony Blair’s face pasted alongside a ladies’ face foundation cream. The slogan, ‘Paper over the cracks in Tony Blair’s government!’ Cherie is not amused.

So here she is, Cherie Blair, for the very first time in Mumbai, comfortably ensconced in her suburban five-star suite, swanning out of the bedroom to meet us for this exclu-sive interview, looking like a billion bucks and saying, ‘How do you do, I’m Cherie Blair.’
Did I say swanning? Unlike other wives of European or American politicians, Cherie does not walk at a trot nor gallop. She swans, err, glides smoothly. With a smile on her face that clearly signals her status, her willingness, to tell you why she’s here only for 24 hours before being entouraged to Poonjab (sic).
“The Loomba Trust has invited me here. Raj Loomba, founder chairman of the trust was born in the Punjab but is a well known philanthropist in the UK. The main focus of the Trust is to educate children of poor widows in India. Did you know that Raj started the Trust in memory of his late mother who single-handedly raised him and his six siblings after all. Isn’t that a noble thought?”

Unsure if that’s a question or rhetoric, I pause to reflect about Cherie’s complex personality facets. Having departed finally from the world’s most photographed prime ministerial residence (she says she doesn’t miss 10 Downing Street at all), Cherie’s been looking for meaningful roles to play on the world stage. She’s politically grooming oldest son Euan, she continues to work as a barrister, human rights lawyer, patron of Investors in Children, President of the Loomba Trust, which has now tied up with India’s high profile Naik Rupani’s Priyadarshini Academy.
At the glittering dinner reception in her honour, Cherie delivers an emotional, high impact speech to the diamond necklaces assembled. I don’t know who her scriptwriter is, but her words certainly come from the heart.
“In almost every society, widows are often among the poorest in our communities and most in need of support and help.All too often, they are abused, exploited, iso–lated and pushed to the very fringes of society. In rural areas of southern Asia including India, cultural prejudices may mean widows are still expect-ed to shave their heads, sleep on the floor, wear dark clothing and hide from men for the rest of their lives.

“In too many parts of the world, widows are denied or cheated out of their husband’s assets and property. The result is that they, and their children, are kicked out of their family home, forced to live in abject poverty, are prey to the worst kind of abuse, violence and sexual exploitation. With no money, the children are pulled out of school. Thanks to the efforts and generosity of the Trust’s many supporters, thousands of children of widows across India have now been educated. I want you all to lend a helping hand,” concludes Cherie to terrific applause.

Now try and match this do-gooder dimen-sion of Cherie Blair to the exuberant celebrity who goes to charity events with world’s reigning rock star Bono, who holidays with her family at Sir Cliff Richard’s villa in Barbados. The Cherie who is negotiating for top money to endorse products in the United States. The Cherie who just earned £ Stg 90,000 from three lectures in the USA. The Cherie who exults with her husband and their brood in billionaire Bernard Arnault’s yacht in the Mediterranean. The Cherie who is frank about everything during a 45-minute long interview, while her minders were having kittens outside the suite.

In her typical candid manner she says, “My father, the actor Tony Booth, left my mother when I was only eight years old. My younger sister, Lyndsey and I were raised by our mother Gale and our paternal grandmother Vera Booth, who was a devout Roman Catholic. I understand what the life of a widow must be like.”

Her Woman Friday, Angela, announces that the news wi-fi card is now connected, Cherie must check her emails before descending to address the dum-te-dum society crowd at a high profile dinner and I thank her for her utterly disarming honesty, her willingness to talk frankly, and bid adieu. The laptop’s wallpaper has an image of an adorable blond, seven-year-old boy. “Your son? He looks just like you,” I exclaim. “Thank you! Tony doesn’t agree but I think so,” says the proud mum flashing her million watt smile.