Bangalorean Beauty, With Brains and Bikini

A beauty with brains from the Harvard University has carved out her name as the first Indian to be the pin-up model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, 2010. , from Bangalore made her debut at the New York Fashion Week.

The 5 feet 11 inches tall girl has been tagged as the “hottest Indian supermodel." In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, she talks about her challenges of being the showgirl in the spotlight.

Sonia, who is studying Economics from Harvard, has taken a year off from college to pursue her dreams of becoming a model. She wants to combine her career with elements of fashion. Though she lives in Atlanta, her extended family hails from Bangalore and her ancestors from Rajasthan.

As the Sports Illustrated model, her photo shoots in Rajasthan was an incredible experience. She posed wearing 15 different swimsuits. For the photo shoots, she had to pose with the local women, making her very uncomfortable. The local women had covered their heads and faces with a veil, whereas the young beauty had to pose in swimsuits.

Sonia admits that being a Hindu girl, she had to add a touch of elegance, so that her upbringing was not questioned. “I was the one who felt the most uneasy because I thought I was putting the women in a potentially uncomfortable situation," said Dara in the interview.

“I tried my best to do the shoot as elegantly as possible. Sports Illustrated was a job that was very much out of my comfort zone and I wanted to make sure I made everyone proud," confessed Sonia.

Sonia believes that success is all about hard work. In her times of success, she didn"t want to miss thanking her parents and family for the emotional and financial support.

For her, the biggest challenge in the industry was to be comfortable with a tentative work schedule. She says that at times one is not even aware of the schedule for the following day. One has to be flexible with timings.

The second biggest challenge for her is being true to oneself. “I knew I was being true to myself by not posing provocatively or by going topless," she added.

The private side of is not at all outgoing. She finishes work and heads back home to get connected with her family through Skype. Though she doesn"t know how to wear a sari, she is completely in love with Indian jewellery and fashion. Besides her modelling assignments and photo shoots, she is busy choreographing a Bollywood number for her elder sister"s wedding.