THE MODEL WHO MAKES AUTISM HIS SUPERPOWER
On Autistic Pride Day today, model Pranav Bakhshi, who is on the neurodiverse spectrum, talks about breaking barriers
I am happy about the celebration of Autistic Pride Day as more and more people will know about us and accept differences. PRANAV BAKHSHI, Model
My name is Pranav Bakhshi and I am 21. I am a fashion model. I am autistic aur main kabhi haar nahin manta.” With these words, we get a sense of how a chat with Bakhshi would go — honest and totally dil se. Today, on Autistic Pride Day, Bakhshi, who works with an international media company, says, “I am happy about the celebration of Autistic Pride Day as more and more people will know about us and accept differences.”
Sharing how elders often become patronising, taking away due credit from kids with autism, his mother Anupama Bakhshi, an education professional, says, “While Pranav was adding pictures to an LGBTQIA+ related article, I started explaining the terms to him as matter-of-factly as possible. He told me he knows two gender-fluid fashion models and went back to work. My lesson: Never assume ignorance. Young adults on the spectrum know things and have a perspective uniquely theirs.”
Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, he’s learnt to categorise his day to the last detail. His day begins at 6.30am and his fitness session at 8am. Then he has a protein shake for breakfast, after which he gets ready for his online graphic design classes. Lunch is at 1pm. A hot coffee in the evening is followed by veggies like broccoli, baby corn for dinner. “I eat a low FODMAP diet,” says Bakhshi who stands at 5’11” and maintains a body weight of 65kg.
Bakhshi was 19 when he landed his first fashion show for an apparel brand in 2019. Sharing how he prepared for the walk, he says, “I worked on the entry and exits in my mind. I wasn’t nervous.” His mother says, “He observes nonverbal cues too and makes note of what the person before him is doing.” He adds, “I write in my journal every day so that I don’t get anxious and hassled.”
The realness of the struggle of an autistic child venturing into a field as volatile as fashion isn’t lost on his mum. She says, “I don’t want to romanticise the journey; it was tough, but we are proud of his neurodiverse identity.”
Sharing their experience from designer Ashish Soni’s show at FDCI x LFW in March, she adds, “When a label like Ashish N Soni puts that trust in you, the onus is on Pranav to prove he can do it. We never raised him with any sense of entitlement. I want the world for my child but we also have to prepare them for life.”