Crowning Days

For this recently crowned teenage beauty queen,’modelling’ was an impulsive decision. “I knew I was good in front of the camera,” she says confidently. “When I studied photography at the Mount Waverley Secondary College,Melbourne,last year,I shot folios of my classmates and even posed for them for their assignments.” She even participated in a traditional ball in Melbourne,where her partner and she had to walk down the aisle,pose for professional photographs and even do ballroom dancing. While she was initially intimidated by the spotlight,she later loved it. It was this realisation and some encouragement from her family that took her to the audition for the NDA beauty pageant. “My friend had won the RSI May Queen last year. I thought the whole experience was quite glamorous and decided to give it a shot,” she says.

But she soon realised that below the cushioning of the glamour and fun lay heaps of hard work. There were eight contestants in all,she being the youngest,so the competition bar was instantly raised for her. “We had a Q/A session at the auditions. I was asked: ‘What would you prefer – beauty or brains?’ I picked brains because we need brains more than beauty in most situations in life. Beauty can only take you so far,” she says. Her answer got her into the pageant. “I’m 5 feet 6 inches tall and not too skinny,so I was relieved when the other girls too were ‘normal’. In the practice session and the contest later,I realised that more than physical appearance,the focus was on confidence and how you carry yourself. Contrary to popular perception,you can’t be all beauty and no brains in this field,” she says.

Mastering the ramp walk was the next step for her. They had a training session from 4-9 pm before the contest. “We had to keep walking for those five hours in our high heels. It was way too tiring!” she reveals. On the day of the pageant,she reached the venue at 11 am,hours before the show at 6 pm. “The stage was set and I got a feel of how it would be. Yet,I was all nerves,” she adds. “Luckily I had dragged my friend with me for the show,as the other contestants were all above 20 years,” she says.

Since her eye wasn’t on the crown,her question by her chosen judge left her confused. She explains why: “I was asked why I deserved to win. I panicked because I didn’t know whether to answer truthfully that I was here just for the experience and not to win! I ended up saying I just wanted to see how good I was,” she says,admitting that her answer wasn’t up to the mark. And that’s where the girl who won surged ahead,as “she answered her question well,” Tanvi says.

Modelling will not be her main focus in the time to come – that she is sure of. “I am okay with doing ads,but I don’t see myself modelling someone’s clothes. I know how to strike a pose,but walking the ramp in heels isn’t really my thing,” she says. Right now,she is confused between hotel management and photography. “I would love to do fashion photography,but right now I don’t have the right equipment. I just have my professional camera with one lens. No studio,no lights,so there’s a long way to go for that,” she says.