BENGALURU: Demonstrating the concept of inner beauty, women of all sizes walked the ramp at Mrs Karnataka International 2019 Grand Finale held on Friday.
Showcasing their confidence, 14 women walked at the beauty pageant and embarked on a journey of self-worthiness by saying no to body shaming.
The pageant was an initiative by Dr Asha Kiran, a social worker, who said women have always been divided as plus size or size zero models at every beauty pageant.
“If you are dark or thin, you have been body-shamed. I want to ask, why this bifurcation? For me, a woman is a woman, the Shakti originates from her. There are contestants who weigh more than 105 kg, and are 4.5 or 5.11 inches tall. Here, everyone is showing equality among themselves,” she said.
It is a unique concept which is against body shaming, said Faheem Raja, show director. “If you look at the contestants, they all have their unique personalities and this is the platform to show the best of themselves as a human. The event is more of raising everyone’s confidence,” Raja said.
RJ Aakanksha Saxena, who was at the show as one of the judges, felt it is a good initiative and a one-of-a-kind event where women of all shapes and sizes are walking the ramp. “Love yourself and your body, and in the end, it’s all about you and yourself,” she said.
“Say no to body shaming and say yes to self-confidence. Whosoever feels she is not fit for the society, try to gain that confidence in yourself that we don’t exist to please this world. We are what we are, don’t expect us to be what we are not,” Kiran added.
The show announced philanthropist Shabnam Hajira as Mrs Karnataka International, followed by Raksha Shinde and Sapna Savant as 1st and 2nd runners-up, respectively.