Local woman, Anchal, a mother, model, and public servant, landed at Canberra Airport exactly 11 years ago with no idea that she was going to start her life from scratch.

“It took me a couple of weeks to get used to Canberra in July,” the 35-year-old told CW, “From the 44-degree days of New Delhi.”

Anchal had walked in college fashion shows in India but had never returned to modelling, with life getting in the way. Her boyfriend at the time had moved to Australia for university but changed his mind about moving back after he completed his studies.

“So, we got married, and I followed him here. I moved from the capital of India to the capital, Canberra.”

Work and family life kept Anchal busy. She never thought to start modelling again in the spare time she had. “In India, the culture is ‘if you are fair and extraordinarily beautiful, you can be a model’.

“I’m 5’2”. I’m not very tall, I’m not fair-skinned, I don’t have perfect model features, so I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in photographing me anyway.”

Back in 2017, Anchal saw an ad pop up on Facebook: ‘Dark-skinned models wanted’.

“A lady wanted to trial her new brand of makeup. After she did my makeup, she asked ‘Why don’t you try modelling?’

“I’d never thought about it before, then the seed was planted.”

Later that year, before her son’s second birthday, the man Anchal moved across the world for decided he wanted a divorce.

“I was in denial for the first three months after my ex-husband told me that he wanted to be separated. I just wanted to go back to India with my child, but there was something keeping me here.

“In July 2018, it finally hit me that what I have built here means I’ll have to start from scratch back in India. And, if I were to go back, I would just be thinking about myself and not my son, who is an Australian citizen.”

When her father asked, ‘What are you going to do there?’ Anchal decided. ‘I’ll start my life again.’

“It was one of the hardest phases in my life. I had no family members here, no friends who I could call on.

“I still have huge mother’s guilt attached to it. I felt I wasn’t giving 100 per cent at work, nor was I giving 100 per cent to my child. There were times when I was crying in the car after leaving him at childcare and crying on my way to pick him up.

“I went into survival mode for the next three years, balancing work and my son, raising him on a single income.”

Things would literally ‘click’ for Anchal sometime later. “When I felt a little better, I went back to India for my sister’s wedding, and as the photographer’s camera clicked, I felt beautiful.”

In March 2020, Anchal saw another Facebook ad welcoming models of all ages and ethnicities to a photo opportunity at the National Gallery: ‘No previous experience required’.

“I thought, ‘I’ll just give it a shot.’ It was my first-time modelling in Australia.

“I got into it mostly to build my confidence and self-esteem back up.

“It was something new, and that felt good. I saw the results a couple of days after, and I felt like this is something that I should have done a long time ago,” said Anchal.

“It just made me happy, because I was 33 at the time, and usually people start modelling in their teens.”

Being a mum, Anchal felt she wouldn’t clear many auditions. “I often felt they were looking for ‘perfect’ people. I once saw a beautiful, gorgeous woman be disqualified from auditions because she had three kids. That always stuck with me.

“Age shouldn’t be an issue, sexual orientation, ethnicity; there should be a place for everyone.”

Anchal searched for her place at the table, and went on to model for renowned local photographer, Tony Oliver. “It’s important for women getting into modelling after their 20s to find a photographer who makes you feel comfortable, who doesn’t just value young women. I found that in Tony.”

Another project close to Anchal’s heart was her recent work as a background artist in devilish festival feature, Sissy (2022). “It was my first ever movie shooting experience. I’d seen movies shot in Mumbai at five or six years old, and to see how it’s done was amazing.”

As her son grows up, Anchal hopes to teach by setting an example in her own life.

“Take each day as it comes. Forget five months or five years, just plan out the next five days. As someone who used to long-term plan, I’ve watched my long-term plans go to dust,” she laughed.

“Find that one person, that one thing, that motivation (for me it was my son) and focus on that. Even if it’s just to change your mentality. ‘If I must make sure I don’t lose this happiness, what do I have to do?’

“The inner strength will come and get you to the next day.”

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