Jat unrest almost nips model dreams

Chandigarh-based Tejeshwar Singh re-counted a night of horror as he hailed a cab to come to Delhi.

On Monday afternoon, almost 200 men from all over the country reached the Fashion Design Council of India office in Okhla for a rare audition for male models, for a menswear show at the upcoming fashion week. While Delhi and Mumbai-based aspirants were seen as a part of the contestant pool, a major chunk of the men belonged to Haryana, Rajasthan and other areas affected by the ongoing Jat agitation.

A good number of models come from Haryana and Rajasthan.

Chandigarh-based Tejeshwar Singh re-counted a night of horror as he hailed a cab to come to Delhi. “I had a really stressful time travelling to the city. The roads were completely jammed, we saw abandoned charred cars, there were tree branches broken and scattered on the highway that we manually removed – it was just a scary experience overall,” he said.

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We also discovered that one of the judges on the panel, Jaipur-based fashion designer Rohit Kamra couldn’t be a part of the auditions because he was unable to travel to Delhi owing to the unrest.Model Nitin Rao, who hails from Rewari in Haryana says that it was a tricky situation for some. “A large number of men who want to be models and are here to audition for the fashion week belong to various parts of Haryana. So, a lot of those coming from the state and even those taking the Delhi-Jaipur highway had roadblocks to face, however, the situation was better for those who came in today (Monday morning) itself.” For Fashion Design Council of India president Sunil Sethi, it was heartening to see the turnout. “It’s great to see the numbers and the spirit of the contestants who made it here despite the obstacles,” he said.

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