PADMA LAKSHMI "There is a lot of exotification of Indian culture that goes on in the West and I would like to work against that."

Spurred by the xenophobia gripping America in the aftermath of September 11, Nandini D'Souza, fashion features editor of W magazine and its sister publication Women's Wear Daily (WWD), decided to run a fashion story featuring an Indian in WWD. "After 9/11 I was getting a lot of funny looks on the streets and thought it would be a good idea to run such a story," says D'Souza. However, it wasn't long before she realised that the top modelling agencies in the city didn't have much to offer. "They said they had a lot of Indian-looking girls who were actually Latina, but that isn't really the same thing."

Indeed, though models of Indian origin have been creating a flutter at international beauty pageants, when it comes to mainstream American media, they have scant representation. In its 30-year history W, which has a circulation of 450,000, has never had an Indian girl on the cover. But a few Indian models are making a go-and succeeding-at scaling uncharted heights. In New York, Padma Lakshmi and Rohini Tiwari, who got their break in Europe, are through the glass ceiling. "I think the world is changing at a very rapid rate," says Lakshmi. She should know, After all, the tall model has released a cookbook, hosted Domenica In, the highest ranking TV series in Italy and starred in an Elton John video.

ROHINI TIWARI "Models have to throw modesty to the wind and accept the camera's gaze. You have to do a lot of exposing, sometimes even walk around naked. That is not how we are brought up."

"A few years back modelling was not a respected career, now families are beginning to open up," says Rohini Tiwari, who moved to the US early this year after being discovered by French Vogue. "Models have to throw modesty to the wind and accept the camera's gaze. You have to do a lot of exposing, sometimes even walk around naked. That is not how we are brought up," she says.

New York Model, a prominent agency, doesn't represent any Indian woman. Erin Lundgren, who oversees the open calls, notes, "In New York there are very few ethnic girls who work a lot. And as Indian women tend to be a little shorter than most, it's going to be hard to find an agency that represents them." To make the cut in America, models have to be at least 5 ft 9 in with hips no larger than 35 in.

And that isn't all. Elite Model Management's Karen Lee, one of the world's leading authorities on modelling, says, "No matter what ethnic background you are looking at there are important considerations for fame. It's not only about the face, the body and the personality. It's also about the desire of the model." She adds that families have often stood in the way of success. "Until they understand that we are running a business, parents of Indian girls have been hesitant," she says.

Besides, it depends on what magazines are looking for. More often than not, photographers and stylists want to achieve a certain look and only in special instances has that look been Indian.

SHAZIA ALI "I went to an audition and the first thing they said was that I wasn't Indian enough. They wanted someone with dark skin, circles under the eyes and a big nose."

As most photography agencies hire girls to meet the demands of modelling agencies, there is little room for them to open up to different types of models. Says Lee, "As a salesperson I can market a girl, work her and mould her but if a photographer is looking for a certain type then there is nothing I can do to change their mind."

The agencies seem to agree that the Miss World contest appeals to a more commercial market. Says Lundgren, "Editorial modelling focuses on outlets like Vogue, Gucci and high-end fashion. The commercial industry targets middle America. It's more likely to find an Indian model in a Lee jeans or a milk ad."

In Los Angeles, where the commercial industry is perpetually in a boom, Indian models fare marginally better though the path remains fraught with struggle. Teesha Lobo, who began modelling at 13, acknowledges that Indians have not had it so easy. "It has to do with strict parents. Most people want their children to get a good education and a job after that. Going in front of a camera can be risky, and you never know how long you will be working." Lobo herself never faced such problems and boasts of extremely supportive parents.

Shazia Ali, who is also based in LA, started modelling when she was 19. Her career has taken her through several major ad campaigns and a few TV roles, yet she doesn't feel that she has always been cast the way she wants to be. Her light skin and delicate features don't mesh well with the Hollywood conception of "Indianness". "I went to an audition and the first thing they said was that I wasn't Indian enough," she says, "they wanted someone with dark skin, deep circles under her eyes and a big nose."

Raised in a Muslim family, Ali's mother still doesn't approve of her career path. "As far as she is concerned, she would rather not hear about it." There was a time when Ali feared that her mother might even try to send her back to India to "straighten her out", if word of a particular swimsuit ad campaign leaked back to her family.

For most Indian girls, the danger of exotification still looms on the horizon. D'Souza recently cancelled a shoot for WWD because "I was concerned about how it might end up objectifying Indian women. And it was a political situation that could have gone desperately wrong." With popular notions of the traditional Indian beauty associated with bindis and saris that reduce religions and values to mere garments, the biggest fear is that Indian models will be a flash in the pan and disappear with the coming of the next trendy ethnicity.

While Tiwari plans to capitalise on the western view of exotic Indian beauty-"if you look in magazines you see mostly blonde-haired, blue-eyed or very dark black girls, brown skin is sort of a new concept"-Padma Lakshmi says, "There is a lot of exotification of Indian culture that goes on in the West, and I would like to work against that."

In spite of all the odds they are pitched against on their route to the international ramp, Indian models are not giving up on working their way there.