Himarsha Venkatsamy

Himarsha is one of the finalists at 'The Hunt for the Kingfisher Calendar Girl 2010'. She gets candid with us on a day in her life! The South African beauty was born and brought up in the coastal city of Durban. She moved to Johannesburg after high school to study at WITS Medical school. While she was studying she started modelling for extra money... and just fell in love with it. One morning Himarsha and her sister decided to book a ticket and come to India and she thinks it was one of their best decisions yet! The first thing that I do when I wake up in the morning... well after hitting the snooze button on my alarm at least 5 times, I reach for my laptop while checking my phone, go onto iTunes and play some good music to get me ready for the day ahead. Organise my day by... Hmmm, while half asleep... lying in my bed in the mornings, I think about all the things I need to do and run my day through my mind. I always say plan effectively and execute efficiently. I am lost without my diary! So everything gets written down in order of priority... it sounds like I'm organised but that part I'm still working on! If I could don the role of a superhero for a day, it would be... Wonder Woman! I think her costume is super stylish and sexy and she can do just about anything including flying! I have become slightly obsessed with a television series 'Heroes'. If I could choose a power it would be the character Peter Petrelli's ability to copy the powers of other super heroes. Now put that ability in stilettos, and a cape... so hot! Cartoon character I relate to... Freakazoid! He's got such a crazy sense of humour but totally sweet and I love spandex! Girl cartoon characters aren't as cool. I should be the star of my own animation! There should totally be a cartoon character based on me. I've always wanted to take over the world! Inspiration when it comes to my job... Great creative production teams! I love people, so when you have a fun, efficient team it just makes life that much sweeter. I really enjoy performing, so being in front of the camera gets me excited! For me modelling is a form of expression and art which motivates me. The opportunity to travel is definitely a motivating factor! If I had to trade places with someone for a day it would be... To be honest, I absolutely love my life and I think I'm truly blessed, so I don't wish to be anywhere else but in my own shoes, but if I had to trade places, I would say Gwen Stefani. She is awesome, her work is so creative and out there. I admire her dynamic lifestyle and fantastic energy. And who wouldn't want to be married to Gavin Rossdale? If I am in the mood to nibble on something, the first thing I reach out to is... I just found out about the chocolate cake at Indigo... OMG!!! Person that I admire the most... I know it's such a cliché but my family. My dad for his remarkable intelligence, and unfaltering love, my mum for her indestructible strength, my beautiful sister for her free spirit and my brother for his dynamic and charismatic personality. These are the qualities and attributes that I try and define my life and self by. Stress buster for me... My wise mum always told me that stress is an unnecessary figment of one's imagination that manifests as a destructible force and produces premature wrinkles! And I definitely do not want premature wrinkles so I try and lead a stress free life. Things just sort themselves out and happen the way they are meant to happen. And if I do feel a little pressurized, I just sweat it off. The gym is the greatest stress reliever... just sweat it off and flush it out! I have a wonderful relationship with my sister and a great network of friends that help me deal with situations in a constructive way before they start stressing me out. Talking about things really does help... and girls love to talk! My diet... Ooooh, I'm still working on this one! One of my passions in life is food, so as a model this can pose quite a problem! I try to have a balanced diet, lean meats like fish, eggs and chicken, vegetables, fruits and nuts form my daily diet. Being from South Africa, I am the ultimate carnivore but I am trying to keep red meat at a minimum. Sushi I could eat all day everyday, which is fantastic as it's so healthy! I love lunches and dinners at fabulous restaurants with my friends, so on these occasions I let myself indulge just a little... ok maybe a little more than just a little! Chocolate is the devil! I am a creature of pleasure so I do give into the temptation but make up for it at the gym! A daily rigorous gym routine is a must. Amount of time spent working in a day... It depends on the shoot. While working on the Kingfisher Calendar Hunt 2010 I spent up to 22 hours a day working, sleep was a luxury! The amount of time that it takes travelling to castings take up most of my working hours... traffic in Mumbai is a killer! I also am running a fashion business with my sister so that takes up a major chunk of my day. I only get home at around 10pm. I do believe in working hard and playing even harder; but that includes rest, time for yourself and of course a little partying! One thing that I look forward to at the end of the day... Sometimes just a little quiet time can help you wind down after a long busy day so I like to just chill out with a cup of tea and listen to music. If I'm away from home then I definitely look forward to sitting on my bed and skyping my loved ones. Oooh and a foot massage! One thing I hate about my job... the feeling of uncomfortable heels... ouch! One thing that I have to do before I go to bed... Take my make-up off no matter how exhausted I am!