Siddharth Shukla: It was a proud moment when I won the Best Model Of The World contest

A page from the personal diary of Siddharth Shukla Hi, I am Siddharth Shukla. I started my career with modeling and the first contest that I participated in was the Gladrags Manhunt in 2004. I happened to win the competition which was a gate pass for me to the big ticket show Best Model Of The World in Turkey in December 2005. This was one title that not a single Asian had ever won. Hence, when I was chosen for it, my model friends advised me to go there and just have fun as they felt history would repeat itself. But then, I wanted to win; wanted to be there on the top and make my country proud. And that’s exactly what happened. I became the first Asian to have won the Best Model Of The World title. It was a very proud feeling especially because I was representing my country there. I also say that I was representing my country there as everybody in that foreign country addressed me as the Indian boy. This clearly stated I was not Siddharth Shukla but I was an Indian in a foreign country. That moment was indeed a very special moment of my life as I got to represent my country in a small way through this and eventually take the tag back home. Back home, I got a warm welcome from one and all. Phone calls kept coming in and so did offers. In the middle of modeling, acting happened. I am not a trained actor but am of the view that one learns more practically and that’s exactly how I have learnt. And I am still learning…