Mumbai-based model, Sahil Salathia, is representing India in the Mr. Asia 2012 contest. Currently in Hong Kong with the rest of the contestants from around the world, Sahil is having quite a blast making new friends and has lots of butterflies in his tummy as well.
He sends us some EXCLUSIVE pictures of all the back-stage action and his preparations for the contest:
Writes Sahil, “It is an absolute honour to represent India for Mr. Asia 2012 which is happening in Hong Kong this year. I have made some good friends here. Basically, I now have one friend in every Asian country – Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mainland China, Russia, Ukraine, Macau etc.”
“The first day we were taken to La Mod Salon & Hair Spa in central Hong Kong where we spent almost half a day. It all started with meeting the grooming experts there and then went ahead with the grooming aspect of it like a haircuts, skin treatments and body scrubbing,” reveals Sahil.
“We had the usual press conference which was more like an introductory set up for the media here to get to know the overseas contestants, like me.”
“Fitness regimes play a very important role in preparing for a contest of this stature and it’s a lot of hard work!”
“Everybody in Hong Kong knows about three Indian things – Indian curry(yummy), Three Idiots (a Bollywood film) and Aishwarya Rai (so pretty) haha! A group of girls came to me for a picture at an event at Wan Chai a few days back and sang Zoobi Zoobi from Three Idiots to show their love for Bollywood dance and music!”
“I learnt a few Chinese words – like how to say ‘hello’ – and that is Dae-Ga-Ho! However, when people see me at events they say ‘Namaste’ to greet me and I reply ‘Dae-Ga-Ho!’ A perfect cultural exchange, it is,” he says with a smile!