There is more to Brazil than soccer, carnivals, Gisele Bundchen, stunning coastlines and Christ the Redeemer…. meet Radylla, who gave up her white nursing coat for designer tunics and turned into an India lover and intrepid traveller
By Asmita Aggarwal
She has graced the covers of Swimsuit Illustrated, and is a Victorias secret angel, Brazilian bombshell Lais Ribeiro, is the perfect inspiration for Radylla. From the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, situated in Brazil’s north-eastern tip, it is where Radylla discovered her love for the sun, sea and sand.
The seed and fervent wish to travel made her abandon the safe environs and come to India last year. I always had my biggest motivators, my parents. They believed in my dreams and supported me in everything. I remember the day I spent the night in the street, with other girls who were also aspiring models, to participate in a modelling contest that took place in my city. It was heart breaking that I couldnt qualify, says the 23-year-old.
This is her first trip as a model outside home and what made the nurse-turned-model give up the white robes was the archlights of the ramp. I was unhappy because my dream was to be a model and the first opportunity I got to change my life I grabbed it. I consider myself very strong— I came to a culturally different country, without knowing how to speak English and I learnt to live alone. I am very happy to be here, and I am not going back, India is my home, she laughs.
After rejection, she did learn that to be a model, besides being beautiful, you must possess a positive attitude and believe in your potential. I come from a broken home, my parents separated when I was young, so I kept shuttling between the two different homes my parents stayed in. I have only one brother and he is the love of my life. We are very close and we have never stayed so far away; this is one of my biggest regret that I cant see him everyday, explains the first-time model at LMIFW’19.
What remains synonymous with India and Brazil, is the simplicity of thought that people share, even though the food is too spicy for her getting around has become easier after a friend taught her a few key words of Hindi. I was spotted by an agent in Brazil and he asked me if I was willing to travel. Initially I was hesitant, but my fears soon faded when I was flooded with work here from catalogues to ramp requests, she admits.
Coming from a city known for its vibrant nightlife, beaches that caress the Atlantic coast, clear blue waters, Radylla wants more people to know about what she calls home. I want to open a tourism company after I retire. I identify myself as someone who would like to show the world what the real Brazil is all about. Now that I have lived away from home, I value my city more, I want everyone to see how beautiful it is— a charming island, brimming with beautiful beaches, she concludes.