AT 16, she did her first modelling show. A brief pause later, she was chosen as the Cover Girl for Femina. And then came the Miss India contest - in 1964. Meher Castelino won the title in those `fashion-and-modelling-are-taboo' days."At that time, Miss India contest was not a open beauty pageant. We had to send our picture to the organisers directly. That year, out of the 500 contestants, 10 were short-listed and after an exhaustive interview on different topics, and a show where we had to walk the ramp wearing a sari, an Indian gown and a swimsuit, I was declared a winner," reminisces Meher.
After winning the title, Meher's first show was for Hakoba in Kolkata. Then, assignments for Calico and Tata Textiles followed. After a 13-year modelling career, Meher worked as a fashion designer for an export company. With marriage, and two children, her career slowly came to a halt and she was on the lookout for a part-time job. Her interest in fashion and writing found her the job of the fashion editor for Gentlemen's Fashion Quarterly.
Commenting on life after the Miss India contest, she says, "Life was pretty quiet and private. We were never bombarded with questions relating to our personal life. Journalists too concentrated on our professional life - like how to keep fit and future assignments, etc. The only change was - being a model, I travelled a lot."
"We were paid mostly in kind (like clothes and jewellery that we campaigned for) or Rs. 50 per show then. Money was, hence, never a question. We all worked because we loved the profession," she adds.
Meher's creations:
So, hasn't the contest changed her life much? "It has to some extent. It gave me a lot of confidence, taught me how to talk, look and behave in public, and gave an instant energy. It is true that I had jumped ahead of others and became famous overnight - but how you handle that fame depends on you," she says. Meher admits that each episode in her life was significant. While modelling gave her "a glamorous high" and fashion designing "a creative high", her current journalistic career assures her "complete personal satisfaction".
When asked why she did not take up acting, Meher replied , "there was a clear demarcation between modelling and films. And, becoming an actress was considered a downward move. Only after Zeenat Aman (Miss India 1970) became an actress and Juhi Chawla (Miss India 1984) became popular, the concept of crossing over has picked up. Glamorous people today are using different professions like modelling, VJing and television as stepping stones for films."
When Meher Castelino won the Miss India title and was sent to Miss U.N. and Miss Universe titles at Miami and Spain, there was nobody to guide her on the whole process of grooming, walking, talking, behaviour, photo sessions, interviews, rehearsing and the actual event.
Today, the picture has changed and contestants receive a thorough drilling in all aspects before the pageant. "But, the concept behind these beauty pageants is lost now. Today we have so many `Miss this' and `Miss that', that the entire thing looks artificial ," she says about the surfeit of beauty contests. "Perhaps, it has a positive side to it too as it gives girls a lot of confidence in themselves," adds Meher.
Attired in a black fusion outfit with sequin work, Hakoba's fashion consultant who was in the city for the opening of the Hakoba store at Sindhi Colony, feels that the whole concept of fashion designing has changed now as "the customer has become smarter, and hence, is ruling the style and pricing, thereby assuring the availability of good clothes at reasonable prices".
SHANTI NANISETTI
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