Being plus size is nothing new. However, what is is that Northern India hosted their first beauty pageant for plus size women in Punjab. With only a criteria of a 34” + waist and aged between 21 to 40 years, this was certainly a chance for Northern Indian women to show off their curves.
Hardeep Arora with Daksha Digitas created this platform for such women. And with Guest Judge, Bishamber Das, Britain’s First Asian Plus Size Model, the event was surely going to be a success.
With 40 Finalists, Sukhminder Kaur from Leicester was proud to be the only UK applicant representing plus size women. ‘This is a great opportunity for Indian women to showcase their curves and shout out loud and proud, that YES – I am plus size’ says Sukhminder.
‘The West is more accepting of plus size women, however, I am so proud to be part of a platform that is making it acceptable to be my size in my culture. It seems that society still demands that Indian women should be fair or thin and conform to a particular way of looking to be pretty. But, thanks to Ms Plus Size North India 2017, this is the beginning of educating and making people understand that pretty comes in all different shapes and sizes,
Sukhminder was successful to go through to the final of Top 16 and also voted Ms Popularity by her peers.
‘The best girl won and I am so proud to be given the title of Ms Plus Size North India – Top 16 Finalist as well as Ms Popularity 2017. This was a wonderful experience and I met some magnificent people during my time in India. I would certainly encourage women to be comfortable in the skin they are in. The more we encourage this, the more it will become acceptable worldwide’.
