Page 38 Daily Mail, Friday, September 6, 2019
Sitar legend’s
daughter has
womb removed
... aged just 38
R
AVI ShAnkAr’S
daughter, sitar
player Anoushka,
has been hailed a
‘superwoman’ and a
‘role model’ after speaking
out about undergoing a hys-
terectomy at the age of 38.
‘As of last month, I no longer have
a uterus,’ writes the ex-wife of the
Darkest hour director Joe Wright in
a post online.
‘I had a double surgery: a
hysterectomy due to my large
fibroids, which made my uterus as
big as if I were six months pregnant,
and an incredible surgeon removed
multiple further tumours from my
abdomen (which I blessedly then
heard were all benign). One tumour
had grown through my muscles
and was visibly protruding from
my stomach. There were 13 in all.’
Anoushka, who has two young sons
— Zubin, eight, and Mohan, four —
with Joe, from whom she split last
year, explains she became depressed
and worried about her children.
‘When I found out a few months
ago that I needed to have my uterus
taken out, I went into a short-term
depression. The news triggered fears
about my womanliness, my possible
desire to have more children, the
fear of dying in surgery and leaving
my kids without a mother, the effect
the changes may have on my sex life
and more.
‘I spoke to friends and family about
my news and was shocked to
discover how many women hadundergone hysterectomies, although
I’d never known they had.’
Friends have praised her bravery
and honesty, describing Anoushka,
above, as a role model for women who
have to go through similar surgery.S
he adds: ‘I wondered why
the surgery wasn’t talked
about more if it was so
common. When I asked,
one woman said in response, “Well,
we aren’t exactly going to flash our
lady-bits everywhere, are we?”
‘I look back and grieve for my
younger self and all the girls I knew,
for how much we were expected to
cope with in silence.’Paxo: I felt guilty about
being tough on guests
COMBATIVE broadcaster Jeremy
Paxman admits he feels contrite
about how he treated some of his
guests on Newsnight, the BBC show
he hosted for 25 years until 2014.
‘Of course I feel guilt. Sometimes
you realise you made a complete
balls-up of it. It’s inevitable we
will all make mistakes at some
time or another,’ he muses. ‘I very
often used to go home and think,
“I got the wrong end of the stick
on that,” or I was unnecessarilyassertive, or not assertive
enough. These questions are
perfectly normal.’
The 69-year-old adds that since
leaving the show ‘it is liberating
not to have to bite your tongue all
the time’ with regard to his own
political leanings — and he vows
never to return. ‘Never go back.
Whatever decision you’ve come
to, keep going forward. Life is
interesting. Don’t go back and do
things you’ve done before.’O GOOD news for the Liberal Dem-
ocrats? They have lured back Mark
Oaten, who resigned from the front
bench in 2006 after it was revealed
he’d visited male sex workers while
married to Belinda, mother of his
two daughters. The 55-year-old leftthe party entirely last year, but has
had a change of heart.
‘have rejoined my old party,’ he
confirms. ‘It’s time to get stuck in
again and help defeat the new
extremes growing in politics.’
he’ll have plenty on his plate...My famous dad...
who’s not famous!
DAME Maggie Smith, who played the Dowager
Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey, was
granted special privileges when it was filmed on
location at Highclere Castle, home of the Earl and
Countess of Carnarvon. A source tells me: ‘Dame
Maggie was the only one who was allowed to relax
in the Countess’s study.’ How very grand.OLeS Miserables star ellie
Bamber, pictured, reveals
her father’s name leads to
some comical mix-ups.
‘My dad is in finance and
he doesn’t know anything
about the acting world. But
funnily enough his name is
David Bamber, and that
gets very confusing because
there is an actor called
David Bamber,’ she tells me,
referring to the man whose
TV credits include A Veryenglish Scandal and Silent
Witness. The 22-year-old ex-
girlfriend of Bodyguard star
richard Madden adds: ‘My
mum had to run after a
journalist once because she
came out and asked if I was
David Bamber’s daughter
and my dad, who was there,
said, “Yes!”
‘The journalist said, “Oh
really? Brilliant!” And my
mum was like, “he’s not the
David Bamber!” ’Double surgery: Anoushkav1