Aiming Young

FOR many years now Maureen Wadia has contributed to the Indian modelling industry by giving a platform to aspirants,even married women ,especially the ones from smaller cities. There have been talented “discoveries” like John Abraham,Dino Morea,Lara Dutta and Lisa Ray to name some,who participated in Wadia’s annual unisex pageant and found instant recognition. With “Gladrags Little Miss and Master India Contest”,an all-India pageant for children,Wadia,president of Gladrags Beauty Pageants,is aiming younger. In Chandigarh for the north zone auditions,Wadia teamed up with city-based smile specialist — Gary Sandhu and model Candy Brar to select “confident personalities” in two age groups of children — ‘Juniors’ up to eight years and ‘Seniors’ from nine to 16 years. The response was overwhelming as 61 children,dressed in their Sunday best,put their best foot forward. As Wadia clarified,it’s not a beauty contest and the aim is to “inculcate a sense of confidence among the kids.” The selected participants would go on to compete in the the north zone finals which will be held in May in the city. “The selected children will also undergo personality grooming sessions with workshops on dance,articulation et al,” added Sandhu. The trio also conducted auditions for the forthcoming Gladrags Mrs India 2012 contest.