More than a dream girl

“My first ever show was in 2000. I was just 10 years old when I walked the ramp. After the show, I remember coming home and telling my parents that this (modelling) is what I wanted to do. Then years, later, in college, I had the opportunity to meet fashion choreographer Sunil Menon and I told him about wanting to become a model. He gave me a lot of advice on how to go about it, and so on,” she says.

What caught Christelda by surprise after that conversation was Sunil’s phone call — three days later, asking her if she could walk for a show. Of course, she jumped at the opportunity.

“I was thinking it is going to be a small show, but it wasn’t! I walked the ramp for Pearl Academy,” she says, adding how it’s great that she began modelling with that show. “I didn’t even have a makeup kit that time, and it was the other models who helped me out,” she says. So far, she has walked the ramp for Sidney Sladen, Satkrit Krishna and Ritu Kumar, while being one of the faces for a well-known silk brand.

Modelling isn’t her only love — she’s also a musician. “I come from a musical background and it has always been a part of what I do. From my childhood piano lessons to vocal training with my grandmother, and over the years, I have kept music alive,” she muses. That culminated in Sugar Rush, a musical act she created with her brother Tarun Andrew Phillip, aka DJ Tap.

How is it to be working with a sibling? “It’s great! We are best friends. Of course, we have our differences, but being family, you can never grow apart,” she smiles. On juggling these two passions, along with her day job as a music teacher at APL Global — “I am the kind of person who gets bored with things easily. But you know what they say about finding a job you love… I’m lucky enough to be doing the two things I love — modelling and music. My family has been really supportive with my career and that’s also made everything interesting!” she concludes.