Mumbai:
The world of glitz and glamour mesmerizes all, but wait, should we stop by and think once more?
Viveka Babajee's suicide is just the latest reminder of the seamier side of the fashion industry. The shimmer appears to be only on the surface while the underbelly seems to have a dark and ugly side. A closer look at the pitfalls of the industry would probably tell us, what triggers such tragedies.
So what led Viveka Babajee to take such a drastic step? Was it the intense pressure of the modelling world that made her more vulnerable?
She seemed to have it all. The modelling world of 90s, her own event management firm, yet her career was unravelling rapidly behind the scenes. Viveka Babajee's friends knew she was hit by losses and a series of failed relationships, but seldom did they think it would end like this.
Socialite Queenie Dhody, talking about the last time they had met, says, "She looked fine. I asked her about how she was coping with her break-up and how her event management company was doing. She said she was rocking and it was all great. After just a few days, I hear this."
Viveka's story is not an isolated one. Yesteryear's Bollywood damsel Parveen Babi, famous model turned VJ Nafisa Joseph, all three have one common link. They all saw what can be called the dark side of the glamour industry, but did not survive to tell their tales.
So what makes this industry infamous of having seen its top most stars and beauty queens die alone?
Vulnerable to the cocktail of professional pressures, failure, and loneliness, escapism becomes a necessity more than just a tendency. Psychiatrist Harish Shetty says that, "I always tell young boys and girls, who are in the media and modeling industry, that it's easy to get a boyfriend but very difficult to get friends and so it's important to invest in your relationship with friends."
But film stars reject this notion. Actress Vidya Malavade says that such incidents are tragic of course, but it is not fair to target the whole industry.
Yet in world where fame and glamour are instant, the fall can be equally hard.