With beauty pageants gaining prominence in
Goa, many Goan girls are being drawn to the world of fashion and modelling,
generally the first step towards an acting career. However, there is a lot of
hard work that goes into becoming a model and presenting yourself to the world.
Diksha Singh won the Miss Body Beautiful
title at the FBB Femina Miss India 2015. “The beauty about pageants is that an
absolute nobody can turn into a somebody. It is a life changing experience but
it comes with ups and downs. People think you have changed and move away from
you while others try to befriend you just because you are famous. There are
both, a good and bad side to it,” says Diksha.
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Participating in Femina Miss India, Diksha
is on a three year deal to work on shoots and projects linked to Femina. “You
have to make the right choice and sacrifice a fair amount if you want to
achieve something. I missed out on my first year of college because of the
pageant but I will get back to college soon to complete my graduation,” says
the Vasco resident.
Moving to Mumbai after being crowned Femina
Miss India United Continent 2014, Orlim girl, Gail Da Silva is busy with her
shooting schedule. “Every girl who wants to start with a beauty pageant should
have family support. My parents supported me as long as I was comfortable and I
had great mentors, especially Melvyn Noronha who knew everything about
international pageants. I advise girls to be themselves, humble and likeable.
After the pageants, life is completely crazy with 360 degrees of change, but
it’s a beautiful experience,” explains Gail, as she contemplates her debut film
choice.
Kezaia Caldeira was recently in the top ten
at the Indian Princess Pageant, a National pageant and has won the titles of
Grape Escapade 2014, Miss Summer Tulip India 2014 and Miss Goa 2014. She
describes her journey at the pageants as enriching and fruitful. “It was an
honour for me to represent my state at a national pageant. We had a rigorous
training and grooming schedule of 15 days in India and Thailand. While in
Thailand, we visited many places and experienced the wonderful Thai culture
that is so similar to Indian culture. I’ve learnt time-management, discipline,
competitiveness and the way to present myself,” says the Margao girl. “The
grand finale was held in May 2015 and will be aired on Zee TV in July 2015,”
adds Kezaia, who completed her graduation in Bachelor of Arts from Rosary
College, Navelim.
Diana Jackson, residing in North Yorkshire,
England was ecstatic when she heard about the Summer Tulip beauty pageant, a
national pageant being held in Goa. She got to know about the announcement
while holidaying in Goa and though she wasn’t initially sure about
participating as a British national, her Indian origin gave her an advantage.
“It was an extraordinary experience as I got to meet participants from
different parts of the country. Coming up to this platform, I’m certainly
expecting changes which will add to my career,” says the 20 year old, who works
as a freelance model with the hope of getting a chance to work with one of the
top brand-modelling agencies. “Make-up may enhance my looks but inner beauty
will always dominate. I love makeover stuff, but I feel it’s better to put
make-up on when required,” adds Diana, who wants to be a graduate in either
fashion and retailing, or theatre arts.
