Meet Pranav Bakhshi, India's First Model with Autism
Pranav Bakhshi is a 19-year-old model from Delhi with Autism—and he calls it his superpower! Pranav is the first model with this condition in India, and he is proud of his achievement. He wants to conquer the fashion industry with his charm and talent.
Pranav started making headlines when he walked in a few fashion shows in Delhi and started talking about his condition. He suffers from 40% disability, suffering from anxiety and echolalia but he reckons that he will never let it come between his dream of modeling for international brands.
His mother, Anupama Bakhshi is all support for his son’s dreams. She spoke to a source about Pranav recently, “It amazes me how effortlessly he catwalks on that ramp or poses for the photo shoots. With no prior experience, and while combating his health conditions, he has done so much. I am super proud of him. He says he wants to be a supermodel forever.”
How did he fall in love with modeling? Well, it has an interesting story as well.
Three years ago, he did a ramp walk as a part of a creative therapy session and found out he was a natural at modeling.
“There, the organizers introduced him to the concept of ramp walk and he fell head-over-heels in love with it,” Anupama recalls.
Pranav too instantly fell in love with the art, and without wasting any time, he started sending hundreds of email to various modeling agencies. He was finally accepted by Delhi-based Ninjas Model Management.
Pranav has a natural flair of ramp walk. With his cute looks and unmovable determination, he is here to make a name for himself. The same showed when he walked for an event for ‘Walk the Difference’ at a mall in Bangalore recently.
“This was my first ramp walk in 2016 for ‘Walk with A Difference’ in Bengaluru,” an excited Pranav said. He also won the title of ‘Mr. Charming’ at the event.
Since then, Pranav has worked with some major brands including UCB and US POLO. If this isn’t a massive feat, we don’t know what is. He looks up to Spanish supermodel Jon Kortajarena as his role model and plans to stop at nothing until he meets him in-person.
Even though he has tasted success in what looks like his dream job, things have never been so easy for Pranav. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2, and since then, his struggle to be treated like a normal child started.
Sometimes, his condition would deteriorate to a point where his family prayed for his well-being. However, like a true rock star, Pranav always defeated the odds and got back up. Effective tools such as exposure to a variety of settings and social stories helped him understand his challenges and work towards them.
Apart from modeling, Pranav is head-over-heels in love with contemporary English music. He loves to attend music concerts and gigs as well. He also loves to travel and play golf. Photography is one of his passions too. However, he would always choose to perform on stage over everything else.
Pranav is the perfect example of achieving whatever you want in life and never letting the odds stop you. We need more people like you, Pranav, and we wish you all the very best in life!
