Same education, same institutions
Like Dikshit, Malhotra and Dhawan also did their schooling from the Convent of Jesus and Mary, and went on to get a degree in History from Miranda House. “It is a little uncanny but the three of us did study exactly the same things,” Dhawan said. Malhotra added that the reason had more to do with lack of choice for subjects back then: “I wanted to study Geography but it was not offered as a choice. So we all studied the same subject — History.”

Dikshit’s political career, so to speak, began when she got married to former Union Minister Uma Shankar Dikshit’s son Vinod, say those close to the chief minister. “She had married into a very political family and Sheila-ji slowly evolved into a very active social worker,” an aide said. “Soon, her sisters also joined in many of her projects.”

Dhawan has been actively involved with the Tibetan refugees’ association and Malhotra said she has always enjoyed campaigning and working in Dikshit’s constituency.

Malhotra, who loathes being called a “housewife”, likes to describe herself as a domestic engineer. “When you work so much around the house, it is almost like engineering,” she said. She also describes herself as a bully: “I love playing Scrabble, so I often bully Sheiladi and Rama into playing with me.”

Married to an ex-naval officer, Malhotra said when Dikshit wants to unwind she heads over to her house. “There are always people waiting to meet her at her own place, so when she wants to relax, she comes over to my place,” Malhotra said. “But we have not hung out like that for months now because of the elections.”

... contd.