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With her head held high

She may be a bit too short for the ramp. But Miss India Earth Niharika Singh carries herself with confidence

PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Niharika Singh: `You need to eat to burn fat!'

Niharika Singh calls herself a "camera baby". Looking at Miss India Earth, it is not difficult to guess why the camera loves her. "I am too short (5' 5.5") for the ramp," she says. "That is why I have always been on camera."

And nobody is complaining. She has graced the telly with music videos for Lata Mangeshkar, Jagjit Singh and Babul Supriyo apart from commercials for Milk and Roses soap, Sony Wega, Samsung and Asian Paints.

Though Niharika, a Virgo, wishes she were "more focussed like Leos", there seems to be nothing directionless about her life. "I needed to be independent. I started modelling after my 12th Standard (which she passed with 82 per cent) in my hometown in Dehradun. I moved to Delhi and worked there and then moved to Mumbai when I was 20. When I told my parents that I wanted to go to Mumbai, they were worried but were supportive. I have been working in Mumbai for the past three years." Niharika has a "why not" attitude to the Bollywood-beauty queen connection. "I am particular about what I do. I would not do something just because it is the in-thing. I would like to do something meaningful in films. I am a film buff and watch movies every Friday — first day, last show. I am scrupulous about the products I endorse."

An avid reader, Niharika says, "Ayn Rand helped me win the crown. The question was which is my favourite book and I said Fountainhead. I love the book for its philosophy. At present I am reading Monica Ali's Brick Lane."

Niharika feels the seamy side to the beauty business, where you have a Kate Moss snorting coke, exists only in the international scene. "Modelling in India is still rooted in tradition. Here modelling means wearing beautiful Ritu Kumar or Tarun Tahiliani creations or doing some cute soap or cosmetics ad where you look pink and pretty and hold a flower. I don't think drugs is there in the modelling scene in India and hope it never comes in." While commenting that modelling is not a high-pressure career, Niharika insists: "The competition is fierce. Everyone thinks this is a glamorous profession. Hey, working out two hours a day is not glamorous! Nor is subsisting on salads and soup so cool." Niharika's beauty secrets are exercising when she can. "I do not diet. That is one thing I learnt during the one-month training for Miss India. You need to eat to have the energy to burn the fat. You have to eat well to stay fit." Her style mantra is: "Comfort. At home you will find me in loose pyjamas and T-shirts. When I have to dress up, I go for bright colours and love to accessorise with nifty bags, shoes and earrings."

Niharika's message to youngsters is: "Be focussed, don't waste time and you will find your highest potential."

MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBER

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