Indians surely love variety. The top 10 Indian women selected through a nation-wide TN Sofres Mode poll contain politicians, entertainers, sportswomen, singers and activists. Super cop Kiran Bedi, who pursued her beat without buckling under pressure, comes out first in the poll. The respondents were enthused by her integrity, honesty, dedication and courage. Obviously she is a role model, and not just for women. Excellence got the vote when people chose veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar to follow Kiran Bedi.

The third and fourth positions are occupied by Sonia Gandhi and Sushma Swaraj, women politicians who play big roles in national politics. They fought each other in the previous Lok Sabha polls. The running machine, P.T. Usha, fell a notch behind, at the fifth position.  

Two singers who enthralled the nation, Asha Bhonsle and M.S. Subbulakshmi, occupy the next positions. Aishwarya Rai got selected for being talented and for simply being beautiful. Maneka Gandhi’s activism gains her the ninth position and Sister Nirmala, who has quietly shouldered the immense legacy of Mother Teresa, finds herself in the tenth position.