Mandira Bedi:-DITD- Double Income Two Dog

A luxurious life that includes the best of designer tags, upmarket cars, dinners at exotic restaurants - very much a lifestyle that belongs to the pantheon of TV stars. And also one that belongs to the fast emerging new breed of the DINKs - the Dual Income No Kids couples. Not all subscribe to the DINK view, so you do have a Poonam Narula and a Mansi Joshi taking a breather from work to have babies. But there are several among the new breed of TV couples who would rather postpone having a family so that they make the best of the careers for the time being. Riya V. Anandwala explores the phenomenon.

For one, not many knew they were part of the DINK breed, by name. One of the exceptions is the savvy Mandira Bedi, who says, " Yes, we definitely belong to that category. Actually, we belong to DITD- Double Income Two Dogs, this should be a new category introduced! It was quite a deliberate decision of not having kids. We need to invest in certain properties as we both are in a line where income is uncertain. So basically, it's about building our securities for our future. I would love to spend time with my kids and give them quality time which till date I couldn't. Yes, we do plan to have kids in the near future, say, in a year and a half. We both want a girl!"

Rajiv Paul, married to Delnaz for quite a while now, agrees that he is DINK too and says, "It was not a deliberate decision, but we thought we needed to settle down a bit before having babies. We have to think for a better tomorrow, and have to give our child the best. I don't think that having a kid is a roadblock in our career, and now I think is the right time to think about kids. I would love to have a baby now!"

Rajeshwari Sachdev, married for a year now, says, "I won't say that we are totally a part of the DINKs, but I guess in a way, we are! We believe in saving up for the future as every parent wants to give their child the best under the sun. We haven't planned about a kid now. Frankly speaking, I never plan for anything; I take each day as it comes. We always believe in careful investment. We intend to have a child though not in the near future. As I was the elder kid in the family, I want a boy first and then a girl so that I can experience a different situation."

And then there are those couples who wouldn't want to be any part of the DINK brigade! One of those is Reena Kapoor, who's been married for more than a year now, "I am definitely not a DINK. We will certainly have a kid but after some time. My career was never an issue for us. I will never opt for my career first, family is undoubtedly very imperative to me. I have always been balancing things. I am already balancing my married life with my career, and even when I have a kid, I'll do the same thing. I might just take a break but won't give up anything."

And what about Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan? Hiten completely brushes the issue aside and says, "We are nowhere close to being DINK. We were never in the process of settling and then planning for children as when we got married, we were already settled in our careers. So there was no question of waiting to build up our bank balance. We just wanted some time for ourselves and to be mentally prepared, and now we are, and will soon have kids. We haven't planned anything as such, but it will be soon. I want a kid, boy or girl, that doesn't really matter."

Looks like tellydom is just about getting ready for a baby boom!