Thirty-year-old Kavita Sachdev took the world by storm when she became the first runner-up at the prestigious Mrs Globe pageant in 2011. But the Assamese beauty reveals that the best reward she’s received, apart from daughter Kasha, is her husband Nicholai’s unyielding love and support in bringing up their baby…

MEETING OF THE HEARTS
Young, vibrant and slender, Kavita Sachdev walks into the living room of her South Mumbai ? at with the swaying gait of a model.

Her pretty curls and attractive smile quickly put us at ease and we ask her how after childbirth, she took on such a challenge to win the hearts of people at home and abroad. “When Kasha was around two years old, my mum-in-law told me about the Mrs Gladrags contest. My husband down-loaded the form and ? lled it up. My pictures were chosen and I was selected. After winning the title of Mrs Gladrags 2010, the next step was the international pageant, Mrs Globe,” she says. And she surely made a big impression there, having beaten 39 international contestants to be crowned ? rst runner-up. But she is still pretty grounded. “I was not sure of participating because I wasn’t con? dent of my body, though I was working hard to lose all the post-pregnancy weight. But then I got into something I loved doing and I actually won! Since then life’s been pretty good,” she adds.

Among her many supporters is her knight in shining armour, Nicholai Sachdev, her husband who completed all the formalities of participa-tion on behalf of his wife. “Nic always steps in for me. He’s amazing with Kasha. He spends hours and hours with her. When you have sup-port, things are much better. Even if I want to deal with Kasha’s school admissions, he tells me he’s there. He’s the only father attending PTA. Now he’s friends with all the other mums! I tend to drop her at school because he’s not a morning person but he’s the one to pick her up,” she gushes. The mum-turned-model has also been offered Bollywood projects and is currently reading a script. “I have got a couple of movie offers but I’m still considering taking them up. I have to be careful about that because the ? rst movie you do is something people will know you by. I’m still reading the script and we are discussing the shoot schedule. Let’s hope for the best! Nic will be super excited if I do the movie,” she affirms.

How did the two meet? “I am originally from Digboi, Assam. When I was 18, I moved to Mum-bai to pursue higher studies. I was confused whether I should study further or simply start working. One day, my friend was going for an interview with an airline, so I accompanied her. Fortunately, I was selected and I just grabbed the opportunity. I met my husband on the ? ight. Somehow, he would always be on the same ? ight as I was! I used to talk to his mum more than him because he would be too tired or sleeping. When there was the ? ood in Mumbai, we were stuck in Hyderabad. That’s when we exchanged phone numbers. Later, when we got to Mumbai, I met him at a party at the Taj. I recognised him but I didn’t remember his name. We talked and seemed to get along. We started dating immediately and, after six months, he proposed to me,” she says. Having met her man, Kavita decided to quit work and get busy with her wedding arrangements. “Nicholai hadn’t met most of my family. So, he travelled to Assam. He wanted to see where I grew up. His extended family also came down. It was very special for me. Our families met and we had all the functions in my hometown!” she reveals.

BABY ON BOARD!
After a beautiful wedding, Kavita settled into her new life. “We always wanted to be young parents so when our child grows, we can have fun with her instead of feeling alienated. We wanted to be her friend. Our friends often asked us if we were sure! It was pretty planned. Within a year of our marriage, I conceived. I had a doubt because I missed my period. We were in London then. I was uneasy and I had this instinct that I may be pregnant. I did a home pregnancy test and soon afterwards, I wanted to announce the good news. But after the initial euphoria, I decided to con? rm the news after visiting the gynaecologist,” she recalls. Once the news was con? rmed, Kavita rushed to tell Nic who was ecstatic. He was like ‘WOW!’ This happened right after my birthday. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was going through mixed emotions. I was so independent, and now I would have to undergo a change in lifestyle. When it was the two of us, we had no routine. We would wake up at two am and decide to go to Goa. Now it was going to change. But we accepted it beautifully because we wanted a baby so much,” she avers.

But certain things took the young Mrs Sachdev by surprise. “After the initial happiness, I really had to undergo suffering for the next three months. I was so nauseated that I was sustain-ing myself on one biscuit and a cup of milk. I couldn’t eat anything. Imagine waking up in puke and sleeping in puke! I never craved any food but my husband went through an emo-tional pregnancy. So, he would wake up at two am in the night and tell me he wanted to eat something. He craved food all through my preg-nancy. We learnt that some dads tend to react like mums. Around that time, Nic’s grandfather was unwell. So it was decided that I should go to my mum’s place. As soon as I was in Assam, my nausea vanished and I started eating well. My parents were thrilled to have me and they stuffed me with food. I was eating and sleeping all day. When I was back in Mumbai, my gyn-aecologist freaked out! In a month’s time, I had gained so much weight. By the fourth month, I began enjoying my pregnancy. Everywhere I went, people pampered me. My husband was super excited. He used to surprise me a lot. Nic is a good cook. I would go out with my friends for a walk, and when I would get home, my dinner would be ready! He took me and my sister to Bangkok for a short holiday. He would surprise me with ? owers, jewellery and clothes. I used to be depressed about not ? tting into my clothes. Fortunately, the trend of balloon tops began during my pregnancy and I was so happy. I bought lots of those. Nic made every day of my pregnancy fun. He didn’t go out partying with his friends and stayed by my side. We used to go to our holiday home in Alibaug. In fact, till the time Kasha started school, we used to go there every weekend,” she says.

Nine months went by and it was time for Kasha to arrive. “It was my due date and the gynaecol-ogist told me to get admitted. My husband took me home to get my bag. We were relaxed. We went to the President hotel (now Taj Vivanta) to catch up with some friends. We ? nished dinner. There was an expat lady in the ladies’ room. She asked me when I was due. I looked at my watch and said ‘In a couple of hours!’ And she was shocked. We went back home and early morn-ing, I got my contractions. Thank God for epidu-ral! After the epidural, the whole world seemed beautiful. Earlier, I was cursing my husband. But after the epidural, I was like, ‘Oh baby, I love you’. On November 15 at 2.45 pm, the baby was delivered. I felt elated when they handed her over to me. Nic was by my side throughout,” she reminisces.