"Take the risk or lose the chance."- Anushka Dwivedi

 

I think happiness is what makes you pretty, happy people are beautiful people, and to be happy you need to fall in love with yourself. I've been a skinny girl since my childhood and I've got people telling me that I can't get into the fashion industry just because I'm too skinny. But that never affected me. I believed in myself. I loved myself. I had a lot of people criticising me, telling me how bad the fashion industry is but I knew what I wanted to do.

So, it all started with around 10th birthday. There was a grand celebration planned with all my family members. my mom dressed me up in a pink gown with a cute lil crown, and that's exactly when i thought I'd want to be a real crown holder, a pageant winner, a model. I started to follow all the pageants and the fashion shows regularly. That's when my elder sister called me in for a portfolio shoot. I was barely 11 years old, but i wasn't shy of posing. I loved switching my outfits, applying makeup, wearing heels, and coming out in front of the flashy camera lights to get my pictures clicked. I was just a small kid with dreams to be a pageant crown holder. But i guess the society didn't respect it, I was body shamed about how thin I was, I faced constant criticism from everybody, but my parents didn't let it bother me.

One thing that my mom always taught me was to always take the risk, atleast it's better than losing a chance. So I went for it. I took the risk, with huge dreams in my eyes, I finally took the first step and went for the auditions in Mumbai. On my way while coming back to Nagpur, I got a call from the officials, saying that you're in for the finals. I cried, I was a step closer to my dream. Now I stand here as a confident,  unbothered, proud girl who's currently the finalist of Miss Teen India.

Today that small little kid who was so very fascinated about wearing heels, pretty dresses, cat walking and posing has realized that being a model is not just about posing, making up , wearing glamorous outfits. It has always been about portraying your emotions, showing the real you, being more flawlessly you and making a change happen by looking at the world and showing people how beautiful it is, it's about guiding and inspiring them to be a better version of themselves.

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