Small town girl from Modinagar, Vanshika Saxena, 19, hopes to make it to Milans ruthless catwalks.
By Asmita Aggarwal
The irony of it all is that her mother is a celebrated maths teacher, but all Vanshika Saxena could think of while going to school is ways of abandoning numbers. Frankly, they gave her a headache and made her nervous, even more when her mom attempted to decode the mystery behind them.
The Modinagar-born took up science in school when she shifted to Kolkata, but Lady Irwin College, Delhi changed her lifes trajectory forever. Almost five feet nine inches tall, naturally skinny, friends cajoled her to join the fashion society in college from where she found a way into model management Talent Factory and forgot all about home science, as now the ramp was her mentor.
I used to watch YouTube videos of models like Archana Akhil Kumar and my favourite Laxmi Rana, it was always at the back of my mind to be a model, only I didnt know how to get there, she confirms.
Plus, coming from a conservative family where education and academics was stressed on, her career choice was not appreciated; being the only child, her parents relented. That pretty face and modelling is no more synonymous, now you have doctors, engineers and chartered accountants walking the ramp. Modelling also gives you the liberty to be flexible, but competition is cut throat, if you dont perform there are many waiting in the wings to replace you, she says.
A communicator at heart, and possessing an astute business mind, she would fit into an advertising agency, as an alternate career choice. I dont think I can act, modelling is the final goal, she admits.
With rhythm in her heart, 19-year-old Vanshika learnt ballet, jazz and classical dance Bharatnatyam for ten years. Her grandmom, she explains teaches singing and she can also play the piano and guitar. Right now, I am happy being a model and have no aspiration to compete for Ms India or enter Bollywood. But in the future, yes I do want to go international and maybe do Paris and Milan fashion weeks, she explains.