Not without my daughter

They are a family who know and appreciate their gems. Mama Sen runs two flagship jewellery stores in Dubai and Kuwait. Brother Rajeev has just launched his own jewellery line in Delhi. And Sushmita has been her mother's and now will be her brother's best customer given her penchant for gifting herself dazzling solitaires on special occasions. However, for the Sens, the biggest and brightest jewel of all is undoubtedly Renee, Sushmita's daughter after whom all the stores have been named and who has an eye for the bright stones as well ... No more than six years old, Renee is happy in her own little world and rarely intrudes into her mother's outer world. She made a surprise appearance at the Chingari press conference at Mumbai's Hotel Sea Rock on January 21. And the reason was soon clear when one saw Sushmita flashing her dimples and shaking hands with the young winners of an IBN-CNBC contest. Renee looked quite at home amongst the whirring cameras and milling crowd of strangers. Shoot over, Sushmita got busy touching up her make-up before she visited the journos again. And Renee quietly melted into the background. Then, internationally-acclaimed composer, Bhupen Hazarika, singer, lyricist and storywriter of Chingari, walked up for a quick word and Sushmita drew Renee forward with a proud smile introducing her to him in Bengali, "Amar mei (My daughter)." She's six, all grown up now. Bhupenda obviously didn't think so because he immediately swept Renee up in his arms. It's difficult though to think of Renee as a baby. With her curly mop and cute glasses she's pretty, poised and very self-possessed, very much a little lady right down to the tips of her designer sneakers. She knows instinctively when to lean into mummy for a quick cuddle and when to keep her distance. It's rare to engage in a tete-a-tete with a celebrity parent and not have the star-kid jumping all over the place or butting into the conversation for some can't-wait-attention but there's no danger of that with Renee around. When mama's 'working' Renee quietly steps back into the fringes and watches. 'Watches and waits but never whines. Very much her mother's daughter.' "Without my flaws yet so much like me," is how Sushmita describes her, adding emotionally, "She's the only person in my life who loves me more than I love her." You can believe that. And also that the Sens know a rare heera when they see one!