Catwalk146;s a Cakewalk

Doesn8217;t quite gel? Tuff, as Madhu Sapre would say. For you. Or ask former Miss India Manpreet Brar Walia, who tied the knot a couple of years ago. 8216;8216;Things do change with marriage. I started doing more work, but at the same time, I became more focused. There is a definite time constraint now, as I have to balance family affairs with assignments,8217;8217; she says.

And it takes a lot of doing, says Noyonika Chatterjee Singh, married to model Gurpreet Singh. 8216;8216;I have been living out of a suitcase, travelling between Delhi and Mumbai. It was especially tough when I was shooting for B4U for three months at a stretch and couldn8217;t meet my husband and my in-laws,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;I felt uncomfortable because one does have a certain responsibility.8217;8217;

For all that, few are willing to give up the glamour for the ghar. 8216;8216;I did a show within a month of my marriage, still wearing my churas!8217;8217; exclaims Preeti Sardana nee Mankotia, a former Miss India. 8216;8216;I told my husband I had worked too hard on modelling to give it up.8217;8217;

Adds Ruchi Malhotra, 8216;8216;Apart from the money, I wanted to continue modelling because I didn8217;t want to sit at home. But I agree, modelling is more hectic that any other job because of the odd timings. It gets difficult to spend time with family8217;8217;.

Ruchi8217;s husband Rajiv Makhani, a restaurateur, says that he had to make his own kind of adjustments. 8216;8216;Right after marriage, she went off for three months and it didn8217;t affect me much because I didn8217;t feel very married right then. But after one-and-half years, I feel uncomfortable if she is out of town for long spells,8217;8217; he says.

Some, like Madhu Sapre, take another way out 8212; she married an Italian, businessman Gian-Maria Emendatori. 8216;8216;My husband doesn8217;t bother much about exposure, it8217;s a way of life for Westerners,8217;8217; she says.

She finds it refreshing, especially after putting up with the not-so-verbal criticism of her mother all her modelling life. 8216;8216;She never asks after my work, never talks about it, it doesn8217;t exist for her. But even today, when I8217;m leaving the house, she checks if I have my bra on,8217;8217; laughs Madhu.

Sheetal Mallar, who grew up in a liberal household, on the other hand, found marriage to tennis-player Mose Navarra another sort of educative experience. 8216;8216;At the end of the day, it doesn8217;t matter if you8217;re married to an Indian or an Italian, all men are the same. Mose is not a chauvinist, but he is quite conservative. I think he would mind if there was any sort of indecent exposure. But he8217;s happy that I model in India, where nudity and excessive exposure are taboo,8217;8217; she says.

In search of a happy balance, a number of models marry men they meet on the job. Take Vidisha Pavate, who wed fashion photographer Darren Centofanti last year and continues to work with him. 8216;8216;He is completely at ease with my modelling, and all that goes with it,8217;8217; says the sultry beauty. 8216;8216;There8217;s definitely a greater understanding of the business.8217;8217;

Lada Singh, a Russian who began modelling after marriage to New Delhi-based artist Ajay Singh, would agree wholeheartedly that skimpy clothes can be a huge problem with her mother-in-law.

But it wasn8217;t ma-in-law hassles that got former Miss India Annie Thomas down. 8216;8216;When a model gets married, she needs to be sure it8217;s to a person who respects her and her industry. I left my career for my marriage. But a year 8212; and a divorce and a baby later 8212; I find there are no takers for a model who8217;s also a mother.8217;8217;

Little wonder then that pregnancy is met more often with apprehension than anticipation. 8216;8216;I didn8217;t know how to react when I learnt I was expecting,8217;8217; says Preeti Mankotia, who has a 10-month-old son. 8216;8216;I became tense, and jittery as my perfect body began to change. So many months later, I8217;m still struggling to get back into shape, but I8217;m determined to resume modelling by October.8221;

While Manpreet and Noyonika are certain motherhood will take a backseat to their careers for a couple of years, Simar Duggal knows from experience it is possible to juggle a modelling career and a son. 8216;8216;I began modelling when my son was three years old. I think my marriage gave me stability 8212; financial and social 8212; essential in a career where one is only as famous as one8217;s last appearance on the ramp,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;The key is understanding that the glamour will fade and that there8217;s no point in getting attached to it.8217;8217;

As for dealing with the mum-body on the runway, Simar says, 8216;8216;I learnt my first lesson from Padmalakshmi, who had a long scar which she tried to hide for sometime. But that mark was what gave her her individuality and brought her the assignments.8217;8217;

Now if it were only that easy8230;

Reported by Namrata Sharma-Zakaria in Mumbai, Minar Lamba, Shivani Arora in Delhi