You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream”. These words of wisdom by CS Lewis came true for Aakriti Sambyal Hooda and Meghna Puri when they won the Mrs Delhi-NCR 2020 pageant in Group A (32 years and below) and Group B (33 years and above) held at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram, on Saturday. The pageant received over 4,000 applications, of which 800 candidates auditioned, 100 were shortlisted, and competed for the title.
Barkha Nangia, director of Glamour Gurgaon – the company that has organised the pageant since four years – says that this edition was difficult for the contestants given the year it has been. “Despite all the odds, they stood high and handled it all.” Puri, 33, who works in the administration department of an international school in Ghaziabad, says that after getting married in 2014 and having a baby (now a 21-month-old boy), she found no me-time.
But deep down, she wanted to prove her mettle. “I weighed around 77 kgs before I applied to the pageant. But after that, I started taking proper care of myself, consulted a dietician, went to the gym for an hour and completed a minimum of 10,000 steps daily. I also prepared for my speech and appearance. I am 66 kgs now. This pageant gave me wings,” says Puri, who previously won Miss Baroda 2007 and Miss Maybelline 2009, and auditioned for this pageant after seeing a Facebook ad.
She counts the grooming sessions as some of the best moments of the pageant “as we had some commendable sessions on hygiene, skin care, dental, ramp walk, question and answer handling techniques, table etiquettes.the list is never-ending. I learnt so many new things from the trainers, facilitators and made friends for a lifetime,” adds Puri, who wants to bag some advertisement and movie assignments, and credits her mother as the main support system, “She cooked for me and kept motivating me.” Gurugram-based Hooda is a flight attendant, who feels that a woman loses her individuality after marriage.
“Pageants like these give us the opportunity to find ourselves.” Hooda took part in Mannapuram Miss Queen of India in 2013, and Mrs Delhi-NCR 2020 was the first beauty pageant she participated in after her marriage in 2015. “Mrs Delhi-NCR moulded me into a beautiful human being. I have realised that there is no age to learn something new and there is always something new to learn. I am more patient, active, fit and aware now.” Hooda also found the auditions exciting. “The rounds began a few days before the finale, and we had sessions on skincare, fitness, all-round grooming, ramp walk, etc.,” she shares.
Prior to participating in the contest, she used to be busy working, but lost six kgs in one month for the pageant. “I started reading to make my diction clear. The happiest moment was when I was announced the winner,” says Hooda, who now wants to foray into the industry under Glamour Gurgaon’s guidance.
The 2020 theme was breast cancer awareness, and Hooda says sessions were conducted on how to detect symptoms and warning signs at an early stage.
About physical events being held at a time when the cases are increasing, Hooda says, “We were also sceptical, but the Glamour Gurgaon team had made proper arrangements for sanitisation and social distancing measures. Contestants had to keep more than six-feet distance between each other and had to compulsorily wear masks off stage.”