BEAUTIFUL INSPIRATION!!

Today as I was sitting with my partner Anuj Singh discussing about 'Miss Cosmic World' an international beauty pageant that we own, I realized how I have evolved from being a person at awe with the pageant titles to someone who is now actually organizing it. And the journey has been quite an interesting and a beautiful one. 
And a lot has to do with the women I was surrounded with since I was a student. Let me explain you how! 
Ever since I was a student, I have been fortunate enough to have known at least one Miss India / Gladrags finalist at any given point of time. I say fortunate because I am from a small town, Lucknow, where  beauty pageants and fashion shows are still not considered a serious business.
Today when we are the national directors and the franchise holder of three International Pageants, I would like to thank them all for making me the person  I am. 

SMITA SHARMA (MISS INDIA 92, Finalist): Smita Sharma was my senior in school and I use to call her didi(sister) and her younger sister was my classmate. I got the news through her sister that she has been selected for MISS INDIA. She went for the contest and and was ranked 4th position. When she came back, she was full of stories about the contest. That was the first time I got the knowledge of what actually happens in the contest. And that was the time I decided to get into the business of fashion. So I started up with fashion choreography and also joined the fashion institute in Mumbai once I completed my intermediate. 

Smita Sharma

CHARU JAIN (GLADRAGS SUPERMODEL 95 Finalist) & SHILPI KAKKAR (GLADRAGS SUPERMODEL 1st Runners Up): I use to come to Lucknow during my vacations for two months and use to do fashion choreography for the shows. That is where I met both of them. They were there as small time local models before they got selected for the Gladrags. Shilpi got into the top three and got into the modelling contract with organizer. That time she showed me the contract letter and that was my first brush with the contract sheet.

Shilpi Kakkar

ANUKRITI SRIVASTAV (MISS INDIA 1999 Finalist): By this time the beauty pageants in India had become really big in terms of production. I was again for my vacations from the designing institute when Anukriti asked me to do the costume for her for the Miss India Contest. And I was the part of the Miss India contest as a designer. That was the time when I understood how a pageants are conducted. 

Anukriti Srivastav

RUPALI YADEV (MISS INDIA 2006, Finalist) & ROMIL SRIVASTAVA (MISS INDIA 2007, Finalist): By this time I had completed my graduation and moved back to Lucknow. And I had already started my event management company. They both were classmates and use to model for my shows. They were groomed by me for the pageants. 

Rupali Yadev

Romil Srivastava

VEDITA P. SINGH (V Get Gorgeous, Winner): She had just returned from Mumbai after her studies. She had her portfolio shot by Dabboo Ratnani. Vedita was the model for my first article as a columnist for leading media house, Hindustan Times. 

Vedita P. Singh

PRACHI MISHRA (MISS INDIA EARTH 2012): I met her first when she had come for a state level pageant where I was the official trainer and the pageant director. And later she went on to win the Miss India Earth title. We still are in touch and keeps on discussing about our work.

Prachi Mishra

People say, 'Behind every successful man there is a woman' in my case there are MANY...
Thank you ladies!  


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