As the boom in menswear reaches a crescendo — the young men who wear high fashion on the catwalk are personalities in their own right. Yet, there isn't a handful who could aspire to carve a niche on the International Fashion landscape. Until Bharat Sainani stormed the industry — with chiselled looks, hard work, focus and a realist, humble demeanour. In conversation with the top finalist of Peter England Mr India 2016, also the young man who represented India at Asia Model Festival, Face of Asia '17 in Korea.

''I was a software engineer in Pratham Software, Jaipur where I designed beautiful web pages and Google ads. When I was in the corporate industry, people used to ask me why I was wasting my time there and advised me shift to Mumbai and give modelling a shot. I thought it wasn't the right time and continued working as a software engineer for two years. Believe me, I learnt a lot of things on the job, like completing work in a limited time frame and working alongside people with fifteen years experience. That made me strong. I had two options at that time — either I continued working in the corporate industry, lead a secure life and earn a six-figure salary or step out of my comfort zone and shift to Mumbai. I chose modeling and after becoming finalist at Mr India 2016, I left my job and arrived in the city of dreams — Mumbai.

Honestly, though, I was interested in modelling since my college days and was influenced by icons Milind Soman and John Abraham, and my teachers and friends supported me to make a ramp debut. It's been four years and I'm satisfied with my journey. I've walked for designers Hemant Trevedi, Bibi Russell, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rohit Kamra and Nivedita Saboo and walked in International shows for Hollywood designers Jarret and Jennifer in Seoul. I've also worked with Peter England, Van Heusen and Lux Cozi. What makes me good? I think one needs a photogenic face, good height, great body, intelligence, humility and an evolved sense of Fashion. I have all these qualities. And I continuously work on myself. I workout for an hour each day followed by a half hour yoga. It's not only about physical fitness; a good mental attitude is important. Diet is equally important. No matter how busy you are, never skip meals, particularly breakfast. Eat small meals throughout the day instead of three big meals. Also, don't stick to one type of food; add variety. Lastly, one of the most important things is water!! It's not about the quantity you intake; it's about the time you're taking it — I start my day with two glasses of warm lemon water and yoga.  That way I curb my desire to indulge.

My experience at 'Face Of Asia' in Seoul was fantastic. I lived there for ten days and bagged two subtitles. I met people from twenty-seven countries and still miss our bond; we were one big family though we spoke different and belonged to different cultures. I felt everybody had a beautiful soul and that united us. There was a lot of camaraderie; one of the girls from Tajikistan loved Bollywood songs and used to dance to 'Desi Girl' starring Priyanka Chopra! Yeah, it was an amazing journey! Looking ahead, modelling itself cannot give lifelong satisfaction and that's why my focus is shifting to both modelling and acting in addition to my online business."

— JASMEEN DUGAL