Mumbai takes Jane, Marisa & Eve by storm

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Former fitness guru and Oscar-award winning actress Jane Fonda is impressed. "The last time I was in Mumbai was in 1968, and it was a small-budget trekking experience then," she says. "There was none of this five-star luxury then. I remember being moved by all the poverty that I was seeing for the first time in my life, though it was more pronounced in Calcutta and other cities."<br /><br />This time around, Fonda seems more comfortable with the hawkers and stray dogs, as she strolls down to the Gateway of India on her first morning here, along with fellow Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, and award-winning writer of <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Vagina Monologues</span>, Eve Ensler."I''ve been in Mumbai for two days already, and I''m so enjoying my first time here," says Tomei. "My friends from <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The Guru</span> and some of Mira Nair''s friends have been showing me around, and I had such a blast playing Holi with this group of girls on the street at Dhobi Ghat yesterday."<br /><br />Ensler, meanwhile, has found a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">guru</span> of her own, as she lets a self-appointed holy man give her prasad and tie a bright red and yellow thread on her wrist. "I''m feeling blessed, so I''m sure our performance tonight will go off well," she says. "Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal has done such a great job with VM in India. And we really couldn''t think of a better place to spend International Women''s Day than here." Last evening, not only did Fonda and Tomei perform, playwright Ensler also did a special piece she had written for her play called Jaadi, after her experiences with Indian women.<br /><br />"In some ways, Indian women are the strongest, fiercest and hold more leadership positions than women anywhere in the world," says Ensler. "Yet, the number of cases of violence against women, bride beating and rape is shocking." Fonda adds: "I am impressed with women like Ela Bhatt (of SEWA), who believes women who are self-employed are also socially safe."<br /><br />Then as the threesome are joined by Hibaaq Osman, Special Representative for V-Day, the threesome round up a <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">chanawala</span>, click some pics with local women, and make an outing of it. Who said International Women''s Day can''t be fun!<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">jamal.shaikh@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>