A RISK THAT PAID OFF

Pooja Mor had a plan, one that involved lying to her parents about her whereabouts. While such an act can usually have serious consequences, for the 23-year-old it paved the path to a successful modeling career — where she even made her international debut by walking the ramp for Louis Vuitton recently.

“After I graduated in B. Tech (Engineering) from Nirma University, Ahmedabad, I told my mother that I’m going for a vacation, but I went to Delhi instead to try my hand at modelling,” says Pooja, who admits that her parents didn’t want her to become a model. “They wanted me to become an IAS officer or do an MBA after Engineering, which they still say sometimes,” she adds.

“When I went to Delhi, my brother (Sudhir) gave me pocket money to help me survive. He was the only one that I could tell that I wanted to leave engineering and become a model. I used to ask him not to tell mom and dad. Since my parents didn’t know too much about what I was doing, my brother used to always message and ask if I was home on time and where I was going,” she says. She made her international debut by walking for Nicolas Ghesquiere’s show, for Louis Vuitton Cruise ‘16. “After doing castings for a week in NY, my agent told me that I had an option for the Louis Vuitton show, but they would first have to fly me to LA to meet Nicholas before he confirmed. So I went to LA and met him and he said, ‘Well, we’ll see you in two days at Palm Springs!’ It was such an amazing moment. I was glad that even though I was a newcomer, they believed in me and never made me feel that I was new. I wasn’t able to focus much in the first few rehearsals because I was so awestruck.”

Ranked as one of the top models in the country, Pooja, a native of Ahmedabad, started her career at the age of 22 and is now living the life that she always aspired to. “My day is usually spent meeting clients, photographers and industry people for castings and auditions. But then I also get to travel the world. This year, I have had the opportunity to go to Dubai, Thailand, LA, Palm Springs and now I am living in New York,” she says.

— AD

After graduation, I told my mother that I’m going for a vacation, but went to Delhi instead to pursue

modelling