I believe that one must be proud of how and who they are. Our society and media dictates how our appearance should be due to which people have lost sense of self acceptance and self esteem. Whatever we see on social media isn’t always true and nobody is perfect. One must learn to accept themselves as they are. Real beauty lies in having a beautiful heart and not everyone can be beautiful inside out.
1. Tell us about about your background and journey.
When I was 5 years old, my mother asked me what do you want to be
in life, to which I replied ‘Miss India’. Since that day my journey to follow
my dream began. My mother home schooled me to be a pageant winner.
I
participated in Miss Teen India pageant in 2010. That was my first step towards
my dream, and luckily I was the winner. After that I stepped into the modeling
industry and did assignments like print ads, TVC’s, catalogue
shoots, music videos.
Finally upon winning Dellywood Miss India pageant in 2017, I
became what I had always aspired to be and currently I am living a life of my
dreams.
After winning Miss Teen India pageant, the doors to
Modelling industry opened for me. Many agencies approached me to work with
them. Gradually, I stepped further and pursued my dream to be Miss
India.
Success is a journey and not a destination I believe. I still
yearn to learn more, grow more and be known by my work.
3. How did you feel being in and winning Miss Teen India and Dellywood Miss India?
Well, reaching our goals require a lot of determination, passion and hard work. As I already mentioned I was homeschooled since the age of 5. Upon winning both the pageants I participated in, many years of perseverance bore fruits.
I believe that when a person has a vision in life, he or she can achieve anything once they diligently work for attaining their life goals.
4. What is your opinion of body image created by media and how hard is it to put up with it?
‘When you are not afraid to be yourself, that’s when you are incredible’
I believe that one must be proud of how and who they are. Our society and media dictates how our appearance should be due to which people have lost sense of self acceptance and self esteem. We can see Rising cases of depression amongst today’s youth.
Whatever we see on social media isn’t always true and nobody is perfect. One must learn to accept themselves as they are. Real beauty lies in having a beautiful heart and not everyone can be beautiful inside out.
5. How important is social media validation in your profession?
People these days starve to have a recognition followed by good amount of likes and followers on social media. They validate their self worth based on how many people connect with them on social platforms which is absolutely wrong according to me.
I have seen people judging models and actresses based on the amount of followers they have rather than the work they do. We constantly need to be seen and stay connected with the world through our posts and stories else people tend to forget us.
But in my point of view once you have a good sense of self esteem, you shall always be satisfied and happy in your own private life.
6. How can one take care of their mental health in this highly pressured glamour world?
All that glitters is not gold, they say. Modeling industry is full of competition and to keep up with the changing trends, notions, likes and dislikes of the audience. People from fashion industry are constantly scrutinized.
Fear of rejection, increasing competition, anxiety land many of them into a worst mental health. The notion of perfectionism as portrayed by social media is one of reasons of increasing cases of depressed mental health.
For taking care of the same, one must be always connected emotionally to our loved ones, stop seeking social media validation and take care of their health.
Currently I have indulged myself in print commercials, catalogue shoots, TV commercials. Also, I am in talks with people for music videos. I am a sort of person who is open to all work opportunities I get.
Coming from English literature background, I have many favorite authors and books- pride and prejudice, madame bovary, waiting for godot.
But
my most favorite till date is Paulo Coelho’s alchemist. It highlights the
importance of self worth, self acceptance and how one should not be carried
away by what other people say and think of them. One must stay firm about their
own individuality even if society wants us to change ourselves.
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Instagram: @pratyakshaarora10
Interviewed by Tanisha Acharya
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