Notes on Hootoksi's modelling and ballet

Hootoksi Tyabji, 2005

It must have been her German heritage that made my aunt (Mami) Roshan Lalkaka such a wonderful seamstress. When I was a child, she and Cavas Mamoo lived in Bombay and she had a shop in Kemps Corner called Minuet that sold beautiful handmade children’s clothes. Whenever she had a fashion show for her shop or for Tata Textiles, I was used as a child model. Also modeled a few times in my teenage years for the Lintas Advertising Agency in 1967.

I was never a good ballet dancer but a conscientious and diligent student of Ms Andrea. She was our French dance teacher at my boarding school (PCK) in Kodaikanal. She would wring her hands in despair as I clearly had no flair for dance but she gave me full marks for perseverance and finally allowed me to perform two solo dances over two years at the annual school event!