All Figured Out at 50!

Think Madonna. Whether you like her music or not, you can't not envy her body, her moves and her confidence. Fifty is the new 30, and while the West has always exulted in a woman's maturity, closer to home, we're beginning to find it flattering too. Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone and supermodel Christie Brinkley are legendary female icons in their 50s and still some of entertainment's most sought after stars. Oozing sensuality, boasting taut curves and high-flying careers, these women achievers reflect changing social mindsets.

Closer to home too, 50-plus women are making the most of their age. "Each passing decade allows greater emancipation," believes socialite Bina Ramani, who remarried at the age of 51. "A marriage in one's 50s is, in many ways, the ideal relationship based on love, respect and lots of space between two equals," she adds.

"An urban woman reaches her prime in her late '40s, when she's intellectually competent, professionally successful and has settled her children — thus attaining a higher degree of freedom to do what she believes in," says ad maverick Prahlad Kakkar.

PUT MIND OVER MATTER

A woman's body shows up age like a crease on the finest sheet of paper. It's probably what contributes to the allround paranoia about aging. Thanks to the lifestyle revolution and increasing fitness levels, women in their 50s are embracing their age with greater gusto.

Entrepreneur Ramola Bachchan feels the 50s are best to nurture one's latent ambitions. "At 50, I launched a highend, modern European restaurant in Delhi. Today, women are fearlessly ambitious in nurturing their inner resources for the cause of good living. It's what the 50s are for," she states.

Socialite Naina Balsaver seconds the thought. "The confidence a woman exudes at 50 can't be compared to the wanton abandon of 18. The 50s aren't the time to blimp out anymore," says Naina, whose ode to her biological clock will take the form of a music album shortly.

BEING BODY AWARE