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It is mighty easy to back out and sulk your way to sleep and do it repeatedly till all your spirit is dead when someone says something so mean that it stings your sheer existence. But it takes certain boldness to take that meanness and shove it in that human’s face (or ass) by accomplishing the unimaginable. Some would say it’s an irrational rebellion but others like us would agree upon the idea of it being entirely about you proving your boundless power to yourself.
Saloni Shukla a 32 year old diva began her professional journey with a training in fine and digital art following it up with a major in film making from New York. After experiencing the industry first hand for over a decade, having created content for various productions and MNCs and helping set up companies like India’s leading talent recruitment website Talent Next, she gave it all up boldly only to move on to becoming a full time Theatre Performer, Classical dancer and a Model. While she was figuring out her new found calling(s), she was told by a friend that it was too late for her, a woman in her 30s to become a model.
As you can confirm by the image below, she is a model all right and a hot one at that! She has recently bagged a leading brands Summer 18 campaign (yet to be revealed) and we really pray her ‘friend’ gets to see it.
You may think she is a late bloomer, but she disagrees! To her, your opinions are worthless because she is content with the direction and speed of her life. After all does late blooming really matter if the bud was content in it’s state and when it finally did blossom it kicked asses all around??
We want to share her story in her words :
Why is being bad ass important to me ? Well its the only thing I know and was taught, was to be a badass! I come from a family that boasts of badassery right from the start of time. Freedom fighters, social workers, doctors, lawyers and writers, women in my family are trained and brought up to be independent, progressive yet feminine. I guess it’s something my grandmom taught my mom and that trickled into me, being soft yet strong. I’m a fifth generation Bombay-ite and street smartness is ingrained in us they say, we are known to achieve our dreams by hook or by crook. Yet my UP Brahmin upbringing Mixed with my mothers Gujrati (African Gujrati to be precise) heritage keeps me more spiritually and culturally grounded. I was always taught to stand for the truth, do what is right and behave responsibly and consciously, stay real and act in a manner that comes naturally to me. That to me is true badassery.
While growing up in the 90s and 2000 I went through major personal experimentation trying to figure the kind of person that I wanted to be . Daddy’s girl, brat, tomboy, athlete, a full blown hippy, rebel, fighter, artyfarty social butterfly, docu. filmmaker, socialist, wanna be vigilante (got my ass kicked), feminine goddess, hardcore feminista, tyrant boss, etc. I’ve played all those roles in my teens and twenties, until I turned 30.
By 30 I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted to be. For some these things come early and naturally in life. Others have to experience little more life to reach that point of unagi and so did I. A few months before I turned 30 I packed up my life in a box, gave away all that I dint want, burnt all that I didn’t need and left on a random trip to a secret island in the middle of nowhere. It was the most beautiful experience of my life, that is when I realised I wanted to slow down, feel deeply, cherish and invest in great experiences and a few, but healthy and life long relationships.
I restarted my life, reset my goals and plans and turned things around. At that time a lot of my friends and girls in their 30s all over the world started to drop like bombs and settle, get married, have babies. Hooked - booked - ready to be cooked. But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I had a to do list for my self that I had to finish before I took on newer responsibilities like - getting married, building a family, having children and agreeing to be responsible to share with, care for and nurture other people.
For the past few years, I’ve tossed and turned thinking about my own question marks and exclamation points. 30s are definitely about learning from the mistakes of your 20s and smoothly preparing for the main run - your 40s.
No doubt your stamina, patience and tolerance levels do drop once you cross 30. How well you get through has a lot to do with your state of mind, your willingness to achieve your goals and the eagerness to try something new and self-care.
Well I slowed down, got fit, started doing what I love, caring more about nature, my community etc. I felt lighter and brighter. Everyday I wake up looking forward to more life! Sure, There are days when I feel like life is in a dump, and on those days you pick yourself up, eat a cupcake and move on. As for the world, people will tell you haven’t achieved enough, but who cares. People will tell you all sorts of things. People will tell you, you are not good enough. You don’t deserve it because you are not as good as them or as you should be, people will tell you that you are too old to do something. But that is exactly when you go and do it!
I won a bronze medal in a state regatta, learnt to surf and snowboard, started learning Ballet, currently doing an MA in Kathak and am a part of a leading hairstyling brand’s, 2018 summer campaign and I did all these things post my 30. I’m single for now, though I’d love to have a family someday, live on a huge farm and travel the world. I live with my parents for now, am a model, a classical dancer, acting in two plays currently (both to open this year) and i love every bit of it. In my free time participate in aqua sports, gardening, cooking, practicing zen arts etc. I have a wide social circle, a healthy personal life and rich relationships. I’m at the moment busy revamping my farm, adding an animal shelter and artist residency structure there. I've also managed to squeeze in time to work on a new venture based on my ideology of minimalism and conscious consumption. Times couldn’t be more exciting.
Really life goes on naturally in your 30s without much stress, doubt or guilt. You are ready to take on more, face more and accept more easily. Basically all the bullshit you went through in your teens and 20s make you confident to knock out your 30s!!!
It is mighty easy to back out and sulk your way to sleep and do it repeatedly till all your spirit is dead when someone says something so mean that it stings your sheer existence. But it takes certain boldness to take that meanness and shove it in that human’s face (or ass) by accomplishing the unimaginable. Some would say it’s an irrational rebellion but others like us would agree upon the idea of it being entirely about you proving your boundless power to yourself.
Saloni Shukla a 32 year old diva began her professional journey with a training in fine and digital art following it up with a major in film making from New York. After experiencing the industry first hand for over a decade, having created content for various productions and MNCs and helping set up companies like India’s leading talent recruitment website Talent Next, she gave it all up boldly only to move on to becoming a full time Theatre Performer, Classical dancer and a Model. While she was figuring out her new found calling(s), she was told by a friend that it was too late for her, a woman in her 30s to become a model.
As you can confirm by the image below, she is a model all right and a hot one at that! She has recently bagged a leading brands Summer 18 campaign (yet to be revealed) and we really pray her ‘friend’ gets to see it.
You may think she is a late bloomer, but she disagrees! To her, your opinions are worthless because she is content with the direction and speed of her life. After all does late blooming really matter if the bud was content in it’s state and when it finally did blossom it kicked asses all around??
We want to share her story in her words :
Why is being bad ass important to me ? Well its the only thing I know and was taught, was to be a badass! I come from a family that boasts of badassery right from the start of time. Freedom fighters, social workers, doctors, lawyers and writers, women in my family are trained and brought up to be independent, progressive yet feminine. I guess it’s something my grandmom taught my mom and that trickled into me, being soft yet strong. I’m a fifth generation Bombay-ite and street smartness is ingrained in us they say, we are known to achieve our dreams by hook or by crook. Yet my UP Brahmin upbringing Mixed with my mothers Gujrati (African Gujrati to be precise) heritage keeps me more spiritually and culturally grounded. I was always taught to stand for the truth, do what is right and behave responsibly and consciously, stay real and act in a manner that comes naturally to me. That to me is true badassery.
While growing up in the 90s and 2000 I went through major personal experimentation trying to figure the kind of person that I wanted to be . Daddy’s girl, brat, tomboy, athlete, a full blown hippy, rebel, fighter, artyfarty social butterfly, docu. filmmaker, socialist, wanna be vigilante (got my ass kicked), feminine goddess, hardcore feminista, tyrant boss, etc. I’ve played all those roles in my teens and twenties, until I turned 30.
By 30 I knew exactly who I was and what I wanted to be. For some these things come early and naturally in life. Others have to experience little more life to reach that point of unagi and so did I. A few months before I turned 30 I packed up my life in a box, gave away all that I dint want, burnt all that I didn’t need and left on a random trip to a secret island in the middle of nowhere. It was the most beautiful experience of my life, that is when I realised I wanted to slow down, feel deeply, cherish and invest in great experiences and a few, but healthy and life long relationships.
I restarted my life, reset my goals and plans and turned things around. At that time a lot of my friends and girls in their 30s all over the world started to drop like bombs and settle, get married, have babies. Hooked - booked - ready to be cooked. But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I had a to do list for my self that I had to finish before I took on newer responsibilities like - getting married, building a family, having children and agreeing to be responsible to share with, care for and nurture other people.
For the past few years, I’ve tossed and turned thinking about my own question marks and exclamation points. 30s are definitely about learning from the mistakes of your 20s and smoothly preparing for the main run - your 40s.
No doubt your stamina, patience and tolerance levels do drop once you cross 30. How well you get through has a lot to do with your state of mind, your willingness to achieve your goals and the eagerness to try something new and self-care.
Well I slowed down, got fit, started doing what I love, caring more about nature, my community etc. I felt lighter and brighter. Everyday I wake up looking forward to more life! Sure, There are days when I feel like life is in a dump, and on those days you pick yourself up, eat a cupcake and move on. As for the world, people will tell you haven’t achieved enough, but who cares. People will tell you all sorts of things. People will tell you, you are not good enough. You don’t deserve it because you are not as good as them or as you should be, people will tell you that you are too old to do something. But that is exactly when you go and do it!
I won a bronze medal in a state regatta, learnt to surf and snowboard, started learning Ballet, currently doing an MA in Kathak and am a part of a leading hairstyling brand’s, 2018 summer campaign and I did all these things post my 30. I’m single for now, though I’d love to have a family someday, live on a huge farm and travel the world. I live with my parents for now, am a model, a classical dancer, acting in two plays currently (both to open this year) and i love every bit of it. In my free time participate in aqua sports, gardening, cooking, practicing zen arts etc. I have a wide social circle, a healthy personal life and rich relationships. I’m at the moment busy revamping my farm, adding an animal shelter and artist residency structure there. I've also managed to squeeze in time to work on a new venture based on my ideology of minimalism and conscious consumption. Times couldn’t be more exciting.
Really life goes on naturally in your 30s without much stress, doubt or guilt. You are ready to take on more, face more and accept more easily. Basically all the bullshit you went through in your teens and 20s make you confident to knock out your 30s!!!
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