Poonam keen to fulfil her commitment to strip for Team India

Mumbai: Model Poonam Pandey, who promised to bare all if India won the Cricket World Cup, says it was not a publicity stunt and that she is still ready to fulfil her commitment.

"I am still on with my commitment. If BCCI gives me the permission good...I will do it. I am still requesting them. On my behalf, I am telling everyone to go and tell the BCCI to allow me to do so that I can go ahead and fulfil it. I didn`t want to break any law so I took permission," Poonam told PTI. The Kingfisher calendar model had sent a letter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asking for permission to strip. "The letter that I had written was refused by them. I felt bad and was hurt when they did not allow me to go bare. I was upset. They just said BCCI does not give permission for such things," she said. To a query, the 19-year-old said she has not planned to meet the BCCI officials personally to pursue the matter. When asked if being into news for wrong reasons bother her, Poonam said, "It does not. Personally I don`t think it is a negative publicity. If doing anything for Team India or for the nation is considered negative then what should I say." The aspiring actress insists that going bare was her idea of celebrating the victory and not a publicity stunt. "I had made that statement for Team India..I don`t regret it at all. I did not think that it will turn out to be such a big thing and that it will become such a issue. It may be a big question in a country like India. But internationally several models have done this kind of act...so why people in India are thinking or taking it as a big thing," she wondered. On her family`s reaction, Poonam said, "My family was upset. They were shocked. But when I explained it to them that I have given the statement for team India they understood it." "I believe people have their own mentality to perceive things like if a man removes his T-shirt and walks on road no one will say anything but if a girl does something similar or even says something similar the outcome is not good. Like you can see in my case," she said. Poonam, who is one of the most downloaded models on the internet, also got threatening calls after her announcement to strip. "I had to hide as I received many calls threatening me of dire consequences if I bared it all. But some people called to say that they are proud of me. I have been getting offers from magazines and calendars to pose in the buff, and also been approached by reality TV show makers," she said. The Mumbai-based model will be participating in the fourth season of `Khatron Ke Khiladi`. PTI