World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to welcome amazing Queen Manju Upadhyay Classic Mrs India International Queen 2020 Winner.
Full name: Manju Upadhyay
Title / Year: Classic Mrs India International Queen 2020 Winner
Pageant System: www.mrsindiainternationalqueen.com
Age: 42
Zodiac sign: Leo
Hobbies: Dancing, Singing, Horse riding bike ride
Platform: Mrs India International Queen
Years competed: 1 year
Countries visited: Dubai
Likes: I love to visit religious places
Dislikes: I don't like to compromise my work and also don't keep it pending for the other day
Status: Widow
World Class Beauty Queens: Please tell us about yourself.
I am a 42-year-old widowed woman, mother of 2 daughters whom I consider to be the biggest success of my life. I belong to Bastapur, a village in Haryana and currently living in Delhi, India. I am a graduate, a devotional singer, and I have won various competitions in beauty, skin, hair treatment and water color therapy. I have learned chhau dance, salsa, HipHop, Contemporary and many western dance forms from various training institutes. Currently, I am learning singing from Sangeet Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. In 2014, we established Shri Shiva Narayan Radha Krishna Temple.
World Class Beauty Queens: What does women Empowerment means to you?
A great Sanskrit proverb says “Where women are worshiped, GOD resides there and where women are not worshiped, they are not respected, all good deeds done there become fruitless. I believe women are empowered when they are educated and financially independent. Women must realize their strength within and should work towards their goals, fight for their rights and prove themselves.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your pageant history.
In 2019, a beauty contest was organized by a club for women and girls. Both of my daughters did not participate in it and asked me to participate. It included dance competition, singing round, Catwalk, media so I thought that this was the best opportunity for me to open up myself. I performed well in all the rounds and gave my best, and I won that competition.
World Class Beauty Queens: What inspired you to do your first pageant? Society does not value widow women; they feel that a widow should not participate in pageants and must sit at home and take care of the responsibilities as a mother or as a daughter. They never consider her to be a strong and successful woman. It was not easy for me, when I wanted to choose a new life, live for thyself, I had to face many difficulties, but I decided that I will become the strength of every widow who sits in a corner and cries and feels helpless. I believe every woman is important and she deserves all the rights to live her life in her own way without being judged. I wanted to prove the world that age is just a number to achieve your goals. Never give up in life and value every woman, and Mrs India International Queen gave me an amazing opportunity to prove myself and achieve my goals.
World Class Beauty Queens: Why did you choose to compete for your current title?
Because I wanted a platform which encourages the inner beauty, the true identity and embrace women to live like a Queen. Hence, I choose to be a part of Mrs India International Queen to find my reflection. This is a fair platform for married women, none of pageants could give honest judgments which we got from here.
World Class Beauty Queens: To those unfamiliar with your pageant system please tell us what is it about?
This pageant is organized for married women, especially for those women who had lost their real identity while handling the responsibilities after marriage and also inspires women to give back to society.
Mrs India International queen 2020 was held for three days at Crowne Plaza Hotel in New Delhi. It included various rounds like introduction, talent, Interview, Traditional wear, and Evening wear round along with catwalk and self defense training, and amazing photoshoot sessions which made me feel like a Queen. The Team behaved like a family throughout the journey. Everyone used to eat together. We had dance, fun and got a chance to know each other. All the contestants became good friends. The biggest thing about it was that whatever the Judgment was, it was absolutely fair.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are you being judged on during the competition?
During the competition, we were judged for our confidence, presentation, communication skills, zeal to excel and on basis of our inner beauty. We were dedicated and punctual throughout the journey.
I dedicated a song to Mrs India International Queen and performed that on stage on 1st day, which got huge appreciation. Also, I had dedicatedly prepared for the talent round, and represented my Indian traditional culture in traditional wear round along with our national flag. We were given marks in Introduction, Talent, Interview, Traditional and Evening wear rounds, and I gave my best.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your experience during the competition.
This moment was one of the best moments of my life, I felt accomplished and motivated. We got a chance to meet new people and showcase our talent, also we learnt new skills which helped us to become more poised and presentable. Altogether it was a joyful and learning experience.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your platform or what causes you volunteer for.
This platform is all about women empowerment & self-confidence and I volunteer for the same, I also want to change the society's mentality towards married / widow women. I work for women who are widow or a victim of domestic violence, I try to motivate them and help them realize their strength so they can stand for themselves.
World Class Beauty Queens: What appearances have you done with your title?
After winning the crown of Classic Mrs India International Queen 2020, I got an amazing welcome at my home and neighborhood with a great celebration. I was invited as a Judge at P Club Christmas Party for judging the competition of women at Christmas eve, also I got opportunities from various Brands to be their Ambassador. I am planning to have more appearances after pandemic.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are some of your achievements?
I built Shri Shiva Narayan Radha Krishna Temple, where a large number of people come to worship and get peace.
My second biggest achievement is my two daughters, who cares for me, inspires, and always encourages me. My younger daughter is very supportive. She helped me a lot in my practise for the competition. Also, I lost 13.5 kgs weight for this pageant.
World Class Beauty Queens: What makes you stand out from all those other beautiful girls?
I was dedicated for this pageant and even lost my weight to be in the right posture. I was confident, and my performance for talent round and other rounds were completely focused on the motto of our pageant. I dedicated a song written by me to Mrs India International Queen and performed it on stage on the 1st day and it got huge appreciation from all the judges. I believed in myself and gave my best.
I practiced catwalk by wearing 6-inch heels for 5 to 6 hours daily. In the pageant, I performed confidently in the same 6-inch heels.
World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about the moment your name was called out as the winner.
I was mesmerized at that moment because I was being crowned by two Queens. I felt happy and healed, I recalled every face which poked me when I became widow and thanked them for their condolences when I became a widow. I felt proud, accomplished and was ready to inspire more women.
World Class Beauty Queens: What does it mean to you to be a Beauty Queen?
A Beauty Queen is responsible to give back to society and to bring some positive changes. I encourage women to achieve their dreams and believe in themselves. I want to be the support of every women who want to rise and shine. We have planned to visit charitable organizations and will work for them.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did competing in pageants helped your life?
During this competition, I found myself very strong because I had gone through the bad circumstances. This platform helped me to create my own identity which has now become my strength.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did pageants helped your self esteem and body image?
It is a matter of great pride that I was the winner, and I received the honor. I was invited by different organizations and was honored as they offered many responsible positions. Mrs India International Queen has made me prouder and more confident. It has improved my personality and has made me more poised.
World Class Beauty Queens: You are an inspiration to all the girls out there. How does it feel?
I feel happy, blessed and proud when women ask me to help them achieve the milestone I have achieved. I always encourage them and tell them that you can achieve all that you desire, give your best and believe in yourself.
World Class Beauty Queens: What is your on stage strategy to win the judges over?
I was confident, dedicated, and passionate to achieve my dreams. I did not understand English, but I presented myself in my mother tongue Hindi and gave my best. I was well prepared for every round and focused on presenting my Indian culture and got lots of appreciation for my hard work.
World Class Beauty Queens: How did you prepare for your competition?
I lost weight for this competition. Took Yoga & Meditation online classes. I wore heels and practiced daily to be perfect in catwalk. I got all my dresses ready by myself. I made a lot of efforts to show my culture on stage and prepared my introduction speech. Also, I also watched videos of women who have won various pageants.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for learning better pageant walk?
For a good pageant walk, it is important to be confident when the audience is excited to see you and your walk. And if you are walking for the first time, then you should take care that you go straight, your shoulders are straight, your hands are at the waist, your posture is good, nervousness should not be around you and you do not have to wear a costume bigger than your height. Also, the heels you wear should be in such a way that you can handle them.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for choosing right pageant dress?
According to me it is not necessary that the dress should be very expensive or made by a dress designer, a right dress is the one which enhances your personality & which makes you feel comfortable.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for winning interview?
I believe in confidence, honesty, making eye contact with the judges while performing and the right body posture are the tips for winning. Keep practicing, the more you will practice the more you will be perfect.
World Class Beauty Queens: What is a mistake that you've done during competing you wish you could redo and fix it?
I was living in the moment, so I never realized if I had done any mistake and if I did, my mentors might be knowing it.
World Class Beauty Queens: What other mistakes are made by girls during the contest?
Everyone was good but some were not confident enough, and for some, it was just an enjoyable time. When it comes to culture, they were not very proactive, and I believe when you are competing at such a large stage you should do your homework properly. Also, some were focused only to get the pictures of the photoshoot and were every time after the team to get their photos, and cared less about the competition.
World Class Beauty Queens: Any modelling or acting experience?
As I am a devotional singer, I launched two albums- Kanha baat thari dekhu and Main bani Shyam ki deewani.
Both the albums are available on the channel of SONOTEK COMPANY. These can be searched by the name of Narayani Manju Sharma. In these two albums I have done singing and acting both.
World Class Beauty Queens: What are your plans for 2021 as a Queen?
I want to take the legacy of Mrs India International Queen 2020 forward by encouraging the women to achieve their goals and, I want to inspire every woman to be a Queen. We are planning a campaign in which we will give back to society by helping children and women.
World Class Beauty Queens: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?
I want to change the perception of society towards women. I want that people should consider a widow too as a human being and she also can live a colorful life without anyone's permission. I want to take this legacy forward with Mrs India International Queen. Because here I was taught that women at any age or at any stage of their life are not less empowered.
Director: Mrs Ankita Saroha
Pageant website: www.mrsindiainternationalqueen.com World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to say thank you for this wonderful interview. Interview by Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief of World Class Beauty Queens Magazine
Manju Upadhyay Classic Mrs India International Queen 2020 Winner, World Class Beauty Queens Magazine,
Interview by Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief Mr United Nations 2018 Platform: Women Empowerment Ambassador to International Foundation for Orphans iffocares.org
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