A tryst with Destiny

Pageant. With her entrepreneurial venture- I Am She,bagging the status of the official preliminary of the 2010 Miss Universe pageant,Sen will create a new platform that will select the next Miss Universe India who will represent India at the global Miss Universe competition.

“’I am’,is the shortest sentence in the world. The reason as to why it is followed by a she is because ‘she’ is very generic. It does not have any adjectives attached to it. And that is what I am,” says Sen talking about the brand.

Miss India has often been looked upon as the entry point to the glamour industry and Sen says that it is this identity that she wants to change. “Bollywood will not be the natural progression for the contestants of Miss India. Instead,we are tying up with a number of institutions that can offer them courses in the careers they intend to follow. Another important transformation as far as the format of the contest is concerned would be that contestants will be allowed to answer in their own mother tongue. The reason behind removing the language barriers is that the last five women who won the crown could not speak English. In fact,I myself went to a Hindi medium school. The whole idea would be to judge them on their answers and not on which language they speak,” says Sen.

The ‘I Am foundation’ is the social vertical of the brand and Sen plans to imbibe in contestants,the sense of social responsibility using this platform. “This year onwards,social responsibility will be a KRA for the contestants. They will be given targets and their performance measurements will be linked to them meeting the targets. So they won’t just say- I want to be like Mother Teresa,but instead strive to be like her in real life,” she smiles.

Sen herself says that the new format of the Miss Universe pageant will closely reflect her own experiences,that she encountered en route to her victory. “While imbibing in them the qualities of a woman of substance,we cannot forget that we are preparing them for the Miss Universe pageant. Thus,we will be training them outside India for rounds such as the swimsuit one. They will not be allowed to communicate with the outside world through mobiles and laptops,instead would be encouraged to get in touch with themselves. They will be groomed to understand that the world is a huge place and that what it takes to make a winner is beyond walking the ramp or posing in front of the camera,” she says,further adding,“I am using this platform for woman empowerment. Rather than projecting them as beauties. I am working on giving them power- the power to choose whatever they want in the world.”