They rape us with their eyes: The life of an Auto Expo model

The glitz and glamour of the Delhi auto expo hinges on two things. The vehicles are a major factor of course. But so are the models who stand next to them. As much ’eye candy’ as information providers, these girls stand next to spotlighted vehicles for hours at a time, hoping to attract large crowds to their stalls. And if you thought it was all about standing and smiling, think again. One of the ‘auto models’ at the expo took the time out to speak to Firstpost on her experiences at this year’s auto expo as well as sauté expo’s in years gone by. She talks about dealing with lecherous customers who have tried to touch her, people who photograph her on the pretext of photographing the vehicle she is standing next to, and what she thinks of the practice of ‘car modeling’ in general. Her name has been withheld.  His name was Rahul. He was a 6 feet tall, bald, well built guy. He said he was a senior manager in one of the 5 star hotels in Delhi. I was representing an auto magazine in the auto expo 2008. The pavilion was chock-a- block. He appeared sophisticated. He begun with inquiring about the product I was endorsing. The conversation went on for around 10 minutes. As we were talking he kept coming closer to me. Then…he touched my neck. I tried ignoring it and continued talking to him. He touched me again. That was when I lost it. “You don’t know how to stand here or what?” I said. “What happened?” that b*%# asked me. I gave him the product catalogue and asked him to move or else I would alert the bouncers. That was the first time I was worked at the auto expo. I am from Delhi. I am pursuing my Bachelor’s in English from Delhi University. I have been anchoring at events at various malls and institutions in the city for three years now. I have also worked with an international airline as ground staff. My anchoring experiences and that chapter at the expo made me learn my lesson. Now I maintain a certain distance while talking to visitors, even if I am not audible to them. The thumb rule is to talk to them only while keeping a distance where I feel I am safe. [caption id=“attachment_176844” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“A representational model at the Auto Expo: Naresh Sharma/Firstpost”]  [/caption] At the current auto expo, I can differentiate between a genuine customer and those who are here just for fun. If somebody is holding his camera at a certain angle, I know he is photographing me and not the car. In that case, I turn around. But at times, it becomes impossible to escape the shutterbugs. I simply hate being clicked. You would think that I feel like a celebrity when people want to be photographed with me. Let me tell you that they just want to befriend me. There is no other reason. I am no actor or a famous personality with whom somebody would like his or her picture to be clicked. My guess is that around 80 percent people come here just because some hot chicks are standing with car A or bike B. Allow me to say that the way they look at us (models) is like they want to rape us with their eyes. That, is the look we get. Believe me. It is a disgusting feeling. If this happens outside this fair, I would not think before punching the guy in his face. It is interesting how these companies depend on models like me to promote their products. There is a phrase in Hindi. Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai (what is visible, sells). I enhance the visibility of the vehicle. The prettier your models, the bigger the crowd you bring to the stall. But in reality it ends there. Nobody will buy the car or bike because I am standing beside it. As an individual, I wonder when companies have such good automobiles, why they need us to sell them. Does it reflect a lack of confidence on the part of the company? Having said that, I will be sad if they decide to do away with the models. It is good money, you see. In fact, money is the only reason I am here. It is not easy to stand beside vehicles and sport a smile for hours. It becomes tiring at times. Over the years, I have realized that we are obsessed with fair girls or ‘gori chamdi’. I am fair and I get good amount of assignments. However, there is immense talent and professionalism in girls who are some shades darker than me. There are no takers for them. This is why a lot of foreigners get opportunities here. It speaks volumes about how we define beauty.