It’s "age is no bar" for 60-year-old Mukta Singh, who has broken the rules in the global fashion industry and proven that age is just a number.
From being an artist and painting beautiful artwork to working as a writer and corporate trainer, to becoming a fashion model at 58, Singh has carved a niche for herself in this at times cruel industry.
A native of the Bharatpur district of India's Rajasthan state, the woman shifted several bases after getting married to a fighter pilot as soon as she earned her master’s degree in English.
Although her family took priority, Singh, who recently bagged the Kamala Power Women Awards in the ''Success After 60'' category, never lost hope in testing the waters and continues to grow by learning new things and experimenting in life.
Singh talks to Sputnik about her experience, struggles, victories, and the driving force behind her success and being a role model.
How Fashion Became Her New Passion
Mukta Singh shared that the rediscovery of her occupation at 58 occurred in a unique way.
"I used to color my hair. But just before the pandemic, my mother had been suffering from last-stage cancer. It was such a dilemma for me to try and look groomed and decent, and also take care of her, because sometimes it was a conflict. My mother was a woman who always believed in her children and looked young and vibrant. Towards the last few months of her life, I decided to go grey, but she didn't like it," she said.
"My daughter too, who is very close to me, like a buddy, was also very upset and said that 'Mama, once you stop coloring your hair, you're going to lose your verve and desire for life. You'll just give up on yourself.'"
Singh made a promise to both of them that she would go grey, noting that she took a better care of herself even when she was younger. At the same time, she started working "a little more seriously" on her style.
60-year-old model Mukta Singh from Gurugram recently awarded Kamala Power Women Aawards under 'Success After 60' category.
© Photo : Mukta Singh
"I lost my mom towards the end of 2019, and then the pandemic hit us. And life was, you know, just within the four walls of the house. So that's when my daughter and I used to take a lot of fun pictures and post them on social media," Singh continued.
"There was a wedding in the family and so I thought that women of a certain age who go to social events like a wedding are kind of invisible. Nobody really looks at them. But I didn't want to be invisible. So, I made an extra effort: I bought myself a designer saree and I took pains to look good. And surprisingly, at the wedding, I got a lot of compliments. People said that the saree looked very good with my grey hair. It was very encouraging", she continued.
"When I came back from the wedding, I posted pictures of myself in that wedding and tagged the designer whose saree it was and the designer promptly reposted those pictures on his page which went viral. I got a lot of attention and many other designers reached out to me for modeling to showcase their outfits."
Full-Fledged Career Before Modeling
Sputnik learned what Singh's life was like before she took up modeling.
It turned out that she got married right after finishing her master's studies in English literature. Because her husband was a fighter pilot and his Air Force bases were in very remote areas, she did not get much of an opportunity to work.
She kept busy being an Air Force wife, and then the kids "came along." They took a priority for her and towards the latter part of her husband's career, they moved to Delhi -- and that was when Singh got the chance to really explore avenues.
"I did work as an art gallery manager. Then I worked on an event marketing team, but that is not where my skills lay. I really wanted to write, so I got an opportunity to write for a magazine. And then I moved to a think tank and worked as an in-house editor out there," Singh said.
When the family moved on a posting to Bengaluru, Singh got a lot of opportunities to work as a freelance writer and copy editor. She also worked as a corporate trainer, but none of that gave her the joy that journalists often get.
"I see my grown-up children too, most of us are in a job because that is the job that is there for you to earn your living. So, I don't see that kind of joy in most jobs," Singh shared. "The maximum joy I derived in my life was when I started painting artworks that I loved, but didn't really give a try. But once the kids grew up and they moved out of the house and my husband was flying, I had a lot of time on my hands."
"That's when I started painting portraits of musicians, as I have a huge passion for the music of the '70s and '80s. Looking at my artwork, my daughter created my Instagram account so that I can post and get encouragement from social media. Of course, later on, it became more about my life, than art," she shared.
Making Childhood Dreams Come True
Singh shared that as a child, she would always admire women who were very well-dressed. As she grew older, she would love to read through fashion magazines and look at models, and admire them.
However, little did she know she would actually be "rubbing shoulders" with real models: "life is full of surprises," she says.
60-year-old model Mukta Singh from Gurugram recently awarded Kamala Power Women Aawards under 'Success After 60' category.
© Photo : Mukta Singh
Recently, a stylist reached out to Singh suggesting she should walk the ramp, which means sometime soon, she might be seen on a catwalk. Given her self-confidence and resolve this is highly likely -- Singh said that she was willing to explore different facets of the fashion world without fear.
On Social Barriers and Bias
Singh told Sputnik that her first-hand experience with the fashion world became "a little overpowering and overwhelming."
"I found that people in the fashion world - the photographers, the stylists, and the designers - are so kind to me, and so encouraging, that it just happened very naturally," she shared.
She added that designers were "waking up to the fact that this is a very important section of society that needs to be addressed. So, I fit the bill."
60-year-old model Mukta Singh from Gurugram recently awarded Kamala Power Women Aawards under 'Success After 60' category.
© Photo : Mukta Singh
Commenting on the possible bias towards people of her age trying to enter the fashion industry, Singh said she doesn't let haters bother her.
"Even the young women that follow me on [social media] are constantly sending me messages about how I inspire them. So, I am very fortunate. You can’t just decide for another person, like in most cases, probably children do that to their parents when they say that this is not the age for you to do things or wear these kinds of clothes, or go to these places, or shouldn’t be exposing yourself. It's extremely wrong to interfere and take away the joy from a person's life," Singh said.
"Elders can't just keep blaming society or external circumstances for the way they are being treated. It is how you are living your life. You can’t tell society to behave in a certain way. What we can do is control our own lives, instead of controlling others."
Defying Traditional Idea of Retirement
Singh shared that in India, where most jobs, especially government ones, have an age bar for retirement at 63, the very idea of it brings about a lot of fear in people.
"I think what is most important is to not take retirement as something like an end of professional life. Instead, one should take it as the beginning of another phase in life, where you get opportunities to do so many things that you had shelved all your life while working," Singh suggested.
"I'm extremely grateful to all the designers and stylists who keep reaching out to me. Had it not been for them, I wouldn't be feeling so confident and so good about myself. So, I think in every field, we need to create opportunities for older people to really excel at whatever they do. Because they have so much experience to give to the younger generations," Singh shared.
"[We] shouldn't be treated like we are done," Singh said, adding that it "can be very depressing for an older person to feel like 'I don't matter and make a difference in anything in life.'"
"I think the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the youngsters and the younger generations are also becoming very sensitive to aging. They are smart enough to understand that they will be in the same boat one day," she concluded.
Encouraging Even Younger Generations
"I get a lot of messages on social media from young women who say that 'when I first saw new strands of grey hair, it really depressed me, but when I look at you, I feel okay, I have that to look forward to.' It moves me. But I feel so happy that I am getting young women to get rid of that fear of aging, because that fear of aging starts right from the time when people are in their late 20s," Singh told Sputnik.
"The fear of aging is a very serious thing in society. You read a lot about fashion designers, then people in Hollywood reach a certain age and kill themselves, because they don't want to grow old," she explained.
"People worry and feel pressured that 'I have to reach a milestone' or think that 'if I reach this certain age, I have reached my expiry date,' or something like that. So I feel very, very grateful that I am helping people overcome that fear of aging," Singh added.
Where Does She Draw Inspiration From?
"I'm a Nichiren Buddhist and I have an excellent mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate," Singh shared. "He is about 95 and currently the third president of Soka Gakkai International. He's so youthful and he doesn't think of himself as somebody who's over and done with life, and he makes such a difference to people around him and across the world."
"I feel it is very important to live in a significant way and make a significant change wherever you are. And, when you're doing that, you will never be treated as a person of inconsequence," she said.
Perks of Being a Senior Citizen
When asked if she had any funny experience during her career as a fashion model, Mukta Singh replied that a very "cute thing happened" when she was complimented by young girls, who called her "OG" ("original gangster").
Another peculiar incident occurred when she was picking up her friend who had come from Canada and they both went to Cyber Hub in Gurugram.
"As I was driving in, the guard said that the parking is full, no parking. But another guard intervened and said, ‘No, there is parking for senior citizens,’" she recalled.
"So, I felt suddenly so good, flaunting my grey hair and going and parking out there and saying it has its perks. So, one has to understand that there is not always a downside to aging. There are many upsides too," Singh shared.