model photographer director and philanthropist indrani palchaudhuri tells nona walia about her journey from ranaghat to hollywood glamour modelturnedphotographer indrani palchaudhuri has shot awardwinning covers for beyonc knowles solo debut dangerously in love mariah careys emancipation of mimi and david bowies heathen among others in 2011 she directed a film the legend of lady white snake a tribute to the spirit of alexander mcqueen starring fashion icon daphne guinness in the news a couple of years ago for a rumoured romantic relationship with hollywood bad girl lindsay lohan the halfbengali halfbritish glamourista turned her 300room ranaghat west bengal palace built by her ancestor krishna panti into a school called shakti empowerment education the princeton graduate tells us about her glamorous journey excerpts you became a successful model at 14 and then started experimenting with photography tell us about your journey at 14 i hoped to learn photography through modelling i was fortunate that my parents supported my ambitions i travelled the world working with top photographers and directors learnt techniques from them and understood their individual creative processes i practised my own photography but was too shy to show my work until i met classical harpist markus klinko with whom i formed a creative partnership which has lasted 19 years now i direct films and commercials weve photographed most of the popular culture icons which is now being collected in our book icons you walked into the heady world of glamour at a young age how did it affect you i was overwhelmed by the superficiality of the profession and the hedonism that comes with it creating my school in india kept me grounded and focussed i had to succeed to support children who needed help in india i found balance through meditation studying with teachers around the world especially at the ramakrishna vedanta centres and i received my mantra from swami bhuteshananda the president of belur math not everyone with a 300room palace can turn it into a school what was the inspiration india was paradise for me while i was growing up i used to live with my extended family in our ancestral home in ranaghat with childhood friends from all levels of society i was inspired by familys volunteer work for numerous charities like teaching english at the ramakrishna mission and throwing fundraising galas for mother teresa at whose feet i sat at sunday school but when i returned to india at the age of 18 i was shocked to see many refugees had infiltrated my home i travelled across the country for six months on a photography pilgrimage and realised that the need of the poor was so great i devoted all my modelling earnings to uplift the poor focussing on the needs of women i founded shakti empowerment education with my father ajay palchaudhuri who left his comfortable retirement in canada to live without electricity and running water to prioritise the needs of our students what are your earliest memories of being in that house