Politics cannot be left out of modern life, danseuse and Padma Bhushan awardee Mallika Sarabhai said while addressing an audience of more than 500 women and a few men on Saturday evening.

“Every act is political. What you wear is political, what you eat is political, whether or not you wear a sindoor is political, what you speak is political, which language you speak is political, which school you send your children to is political,” she said.

Sarabhai was the guest of honour at Aurum Affaire, a programme of the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in India, hosted by the Inner Wheel District 329.

“So do not be lazy and say I am not political. You cannot do a single Inner Wheel function without being political because you are taking a stand. And taking a stand is hard but it is necessary,” said Sarabhai.

During her 10-minute speech, Sarabhai referred to the tragic crash of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad on Thursday that killed over 260 people.

The programme on Saturday celebrated the power of women and those involved in various chapters spoke about the work they have done in the past year.

Jyoti Mahipal, who became the 50th president of the Association of Inner Wheel Clubs in India, assumed office on Saturday.

Scientist and aerospace engineer Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, who is with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), was the special guest of the evening.

Srivastava highlighted how women and men worked together in interplanetary missions at Isro.

She spoke both about the Mars mission in 2013 and Chandrayaan-3 in 2023 when the spacecraft landed on the southern polar region of the moon.

“Women and men, scientists, work together to achieve this feat.”