Naina Rana poses next to a red Hyundai Santro,her elbows resting on the hatchbacks open doors. Looking like a flight attendant in a white tunic-like dress with a blue belt,and a blue scarf around her neck,she is constantly smiling,even as her eyes move alertly from right to left. She is one of the hundreds of models at the Auto Expo,who,perhaps grab as much as attention as the vehicles they pose next to. Most people come here just to click our pictures. During our briefing,we were told that we are going to be dummies here,eye-candies who shouldnt get upset if people try to flirt with them. We should always smile,because if we stop,even if we are tired,our pay will be cut, says the half-Nepali,half-Indian 21-year-old from Delhi. And at this moment,she cant afford a pay cut. I am going to Belgium in two months to pursue a course in interior designing,and I need money, she says. Naina is being paid Rs 10,000 per day,or Rs 70,000 for the week-long Auto Expo,the biggest amount shes been paid at any event shes been part of so far. At the last auto expo,where she was at the reception desk of BMW,she was paid Rs 8,000 a day. Auto Expo is the biggest paymaster. At the paper expo last month,Naina was paid Rs 3,000 a day. She isnt a professional model,but because she has experience of having been around at trade fairs. Like the cars at the Auto Expo,the models that represent them have different stories to tell. Some are well-established,professional models who want to enhance their portfolio by being part of a major event,and are picky about the cars they want to model for; some are new,upcoming models who dont bother about the cars,just a tag of the Auto Expo is enough; and some,like Naina,are part-time models who want to make a quick buck. Their pays and positioning are not uniform,and like cars,the models too,are roughly either luxury,premium or affordable (of course,these categories arent official,and are talked of in bitchy,hushed tones among the models). Luxury,if they are white-skinned and tall,born in a poor eastern European country,their experience in modelling,communication skills and knowledge of cars be damned; they represent the new launches. Premium if they are Indian professional models,who have participated in a couple of fashion shows or,for that matter,auto expos; they represent the new launches as well as expensive cars. Affordable,if they are Indian freshers, even if they are perfectly presentable and can tell you as much about the vehicles and the companies as a salesman; they represent older cars. At the Maruti section,three models,kitted out in short,white frocks,stand on elevated,rotating platforms at the centre. Katrina,a 24-year-old model from Ukraine,whose contract with her agency ends in March but wants to live in India forever,is one of them. She pouts and smiles as crowds click pictures of Kizashis new version,making sure she fits in completely in the frame. One man tries asking her about the car,and she points out,Ask that guy there. My job is to smile and pose. I dont know anything about cars. The only way I differentiate them is by their colour, says Katrina who has modelled for fashions shows and a TV commercial for a Maruti car. When we ask her which commercial,and what car it was,she says with a giggle,A blue car that is driven to a hospital. And how much is she getting paid? Thats confidential, she shoots back,under the watchful eyes of a Maruti representative. The Indian models at the section tell us that she,along with Stacy,a model from Slovakia,is the highest paid. The lowest-paid is Bhavika Sharma,a 21-year-old engineering student from Faridabad who is trying hard to convince her parents that modelling is as good a career as any other. Though she is paid Rs 2,000 a day,or peanuts, as she terms it,and standing next to the Grand Vitara,a not-so-popular SUV, she is overwhelmed over landing her first major assignment,the Auto Expo following small modelling jobs over the last two years. The motivated fresher,as she calls herself,rattles off parroted lines she picked up at her briefing session prior to the show. We are the brand ambassadors of Maruti, she says,It has won 12 awards for customer satisfaction. Its the common mans car.
