QUEEN’S ROAD: The recently concluded beauty contest ‘Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2015’ which aired on Romedy Now, has a Bengaluru story attached to it. The first runner-up of the contest happens to be the Bengaluru-born Natasha Assadi. “I feel proud to say I belong here. I feel so much at home. Though I studied in a boarding school here for only a year, I experience a deep connect whenever I come to Bangalore,” she says.
Born to a Muslim father and Hindu mother, she comes from a mixed background, “I have immense respect for all religions,” she says. She spent her formative years in Oman, nearly 20 years, while her father was working with British Petroleum.
The felicitation in Jain Residential International School in honor of the beauty title was attended by her old classmates, friends and family members, who all came together to acknowledge her achievement. “Pageants often have a negative stereotype, but the life lessons I picked up are invaluable. I think more girls should give it a shot just for the opportunity to learn,” says Natasha.
She got close to her competitors during the introductory week at Kochi, where the contestants were flown to a resort for a week to mingle. The hardest part was competing against the friends she made and letting them go as the competition progressed. “From the competition point of view, I knew it was needed, but it was heart breaking at times,” says Natasha.
She tied up with an agent while she was studying in University of Hertfordshire, London, but not many offers came her way. “In spite of some experience, the bikini round was challenging as I was sort of nervous,” she says.
For the talent round unlike the common dance and singing performances chosen by her contemporaries, she chose something out of the box to convey a message close to her heart. Natasha danced in the guise of a pregnant woman to Satyameva Jayate’s 'O Ri Chiraiya' to support the girl child cause. “I was crying through out the performance, as it was quite an emotional experience to portray the sensitive subject. I became even more emotional when I saw people in the audience being moved,” says Natasha
Her advice to other aspirants is to be true to themselves. “Being myself in interactions and presentation saw me through to the end. I only concentrated on bettering myself,” she says.
She is currently preparing for the international competition, where she will compete against contestants from 88 countries.