Punjabi Bagh resident Pareena Batra, 29, bagged the title of Maven Ms Plus Size North India at the Maven Ms Plus Size India pageant held last week. “I owe it all to my family, especially my husband, who always advised me not to be so bothered about my size,” she says, adding that she got a lot of positivity from his words. “I want to spread this positivity to all plus-size women out there. We must get out of this narrow mindset that thin is beautiful,” she remarks. “It is too early to talk about it, but I am open to modelling. I want to set an example for all plus size women,” says Batra.
As many as 65 plus-size women from across India participated in the pageant. The finale was conducted in three rounds. The first round was of ethnic wear, showcasing the rich culture of India; the second round saw the models wearing Western wear. The third and final round was of evening gowns.
“This title has not just boosted my confidence in who I am but also helped me accept myself,” says Batra. Talking about how she entered the contest she says, “I think it was in April that while browsing Instagram that I came across an ad for a plus-size beauty contest. I didn’t think much about the ad, but for the next two days, it kept appearing before my eyes. And taking it as some divine signal I filled up the form,” says Batra.
From then began her journey of building self-esteem, which was somehow low as she is on the heavier side. “I am a mother of two kids (6 and 1.5 year olds). I had put on a lot of weight after my children were born, which had made me very uncomfortable,” she says.
Initially, Batra was not very confident she could carry Western dresses, but she decided to change that. “I was literally shopping for Western clothes daily, and wore them regularly so that I wouldn’t feel odd in them on stage,” she says. “I was pretty confident about my make-up, my style, my walk and my diction. I knew I am better than many, but also that many are better than me. But once I gained confidence in carrying Western dresses, I knew I would surely reach some place,” she smiles.
“This event was curated for all those women who want to become models, but don’t tread the oath as they are conscious about their weight. Through this show we wanted to break the stereotype of social standards of being perfect and in a certain shape, which is tall and skinny,” said Hardeep Arora, Founder of Maven Production. “We would like to take this contest to the international level ,” he added.