SHINING STAR
On her maiden visit to the country, the Grand Dame of Television, OPRAH WINFREY, talks about living the best life and her very OWN network
An abused child, a teenage beauty queen, a media moghul, the queen of talk shows, the first female African-american to be a billionaire, one of America’s biggest philanthropist, or quite simply the world’s most influential woman— there are many ways to describe her, but the simplest perhaps is just to call her ‘O’—oprah Winfrey, God’s Own Child.
Meeting ‘O’, the first thing that gets your attention is her warm demeanour and simple outlook towards life, and then you slowly realise the positive energy that she radiates from the centre of her being. Oprah Winfrey is truly someone who leaves behind a trail of stardust wherever she goes, India being no exception. “India has been on my vision board for a while, and now finally I have realised that one trip to this country is not enough. You need to come here time and again to complete your journey,” she explains.
And while it is easy to think about her current position as the media czarina in the States, what one cannot imagine is the journey that has led her to this pinnacle of success. Given to wearing gunny sacks for dresses as a young girl, the biggest dream that her grandmother had for Oprah was that she would eventually find a good home as a ‘maid’! “It is unimaginable to think where I was and what I have become now. It’s completely unimaginable! I think each one of us has a path set out in front of us, a purpose for our lives. It’s just about finding that purpose and getting set on the right path,” Oprah says. With a childhood that was far from a model one (she was repeatedly abused), it was her zealous passion and drive that steered her to make something of herself—she says it has been the single most important thing in her life, eventually leading her to establish the blockbuster one-hour talk fest, The Oprah Winfrey Show. “I found my calling in the days when I started the show on AM Chicago in 1986. It was then that I realised that I had stumbled upon something big, something which was meant only for me,” she remembers. Time and again polls conducted across America have put Oprah much ahead of her contemporaries, in fact even before the President of the country in terms of credibility, trust, and popularity.
Last year, the final episode of the show was televised on May 25, and was described as the biggest moment in television history since the legendary Johnny Carson quit The Tonight Show about two decades ago. Oprah took her final bow in quintessential ‘O’ fashion. She spoke from her heart when she said, “There will be no makeovers, no surprises—really no surprises. This last hour is really about me saying thank you,” she told her audience.
Since then, Oprah has started her own network, OWN or the Oprah Winfrey Network, which began its telecast on January 1 last year to approximately 80 million households. The network, which currently boasts of stars as diverse as Rosie O’donnell, Shania Twain, Dr Phil, and Lisa Ling, is one of the fastest growing networks across the country. “Fifteen years ago, I wrote in my journal that one day I would create a television network—i always felt my show was just the beginning of what the future could hold,” she says, “For me, the launch of Oprah Winfrey Network is the evolution of the work I’ve been doing on television all these years and a natural extension of my show.”
Her India trip was a part of her network’s brand new show, Oprah’s Next Chapter. “It is so energising to be out and about in the world, exploring new people, new places, and new ideas.” And on a parting note, she adds, “I will be back!”
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By Ankit Gupta