How a Former Model From a Conservative Family Became a Top Emcee With Rs 40 Lakh Income

Growing up in an orthodox Jain family in the small town of Mettupalayam, near Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Deepika Jain fought against family traditions where women never worked and men were always the breadwinners.

The second of three siblings, Deepika broke the glass ceiling by first fighting hard to join college, then doing small modelling assignments, and finally becoming a successful emcee.

Deepika Jain is a model turned emcee based out of Chennai

Currently based in Chennai, Deepika, is now a much sought-after emcee, with about 14 years of experience, hosting corporate shows, weddings, and events abroad. In the last 4-5 years, despite the pandemic bringing life to a standstill, she has done around 15 international shows.

“I have done shows in Bali, the Maldives, the Philippines, and Thailand,” says Deepika, who charges between Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000 for a single assignment. On Instagram, she shares pictures from her events, where she has around 63,000 followers.

Her estimated annual income is Rs 40 lakh. “I do around 20 shows a month. Initially, after my marriage in 2018 when I moved to Chennai, I was working like crazy. But later I slowed down, realising I needed to take care of my health as well. Now, I don’t do back-to-back shows and try to take a couple of days off in between.”

Deepika studied in a convent school in Mettupalayam, where her major was commerce, and she was one of the class toppers. After Class 12, her parents were not keen on sending her to college.

“In our community, girls are rarely sent to college. They are married off and settle as housewives. But after completing Class 12, I fought with my parents and even went on a hunger strike for a month to convince them to send me to college,” she says.

Deepika grew up in the small town of Mettupalayam

Deepika’s parents, conservative Jains, hailed from a village in Rajasthan before migrating to Tamil Nadu a few decades ago and settling in Mettupalayam, where her father ran a textile shop.

“We were a typical middle-class family,” says Deepika. When her parents didn’t allow her to join college, her teachers and friends visited her house to persuade them. Eventually, her parents relented, and she enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management at Pioneer College. In her third year, when the family moved to Coimbatore, she transferred to Shri Nehru Maha Vidhyalaya to complete her final year, as both colleges were part of the same university system.

In 2010, during her final year, she started taking up modelling assignments for fashion brands that showcased products on e-commerce platforms like Flipkart.

One assignment became a turning point for her career. She was hired as a model for Honda at an international car racing event in Coimbatore.

“At the event, I met a manager from Volkswagen who asked if I could emcee the Volkswagen Polo car launch event. I told him I had never done it before,” she recalls.

“He encouraged me, saying I could do it. He was looking for someone who was good-looking and could speak Hindi, English, and Tamil fluently. He was impressed with me on all these counts. I took the assignment. Initially, I fumbled, but I pulled it off comfortably, and everyone appreciated me.”

Deepika earned Rs 8,000 for the assignment, but more than the money, it was the appreciation that brought her happiness.

Deepika loves her job and says her happiness comes out of people's appreciation of her anchoring than money

“It makes me happy when people commend me for anchoring a show well. That’s what drives me more than the money,” says Deepika, known for injecting energy into any event she hosts, making people relax and enjoy the occasion.

One event led to another, and by 2015, she was doing two to three events a week and charging about Rs 15,000 per show. In 2017, she participated in a beauty contest and won the Miss Coimbatore crown.

For a short period, she also worked as a VJ for a local television channel.

By this time, she began travelling outside Coimbatore, flying to cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad to host events. In Chennai, she met her future husband, Chetan Bothra, through a mutual friend.

“We liked each other and got married in 2018,” says Deepika, whose family also supported the marriage. Her family became more accepting of her career once they saw she was responsible and successful.

Deepika with her husband Chetan and son Bhivik

“My father only insisted I marry someone from our community, and I didn’t disappoint him.”

Today, she lives in Chennai with Chetan’s family, who are very supportive of her work. “My mother-in-law, a retired teacher, is a huge support. Even when I return home late, they understand my work and take care of my son.” Her son, Bhuvik, is three and a half years old.

Chetan, a successful software engineer, works for a large company and earns more than her. - TWL Bureau ©TWL