India beauty pageant inspires local woman

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2009 (6260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Amin Dhillon was visiting relatives in the Indian state of Punjab two years ago when she happened to catch the Miss India beauty pageant on the television.

"You get to see the girls outside the pageant and all the work that they do — they’re doctors, or engineers, or lawyers," gushed Dhillon, now a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Manitoba’s I.H. Asper School of Business. "I saw all the community work they’re doing (and) I thought ‘You know, that would be so great to get involved,’ because I’m definitely involved in my community, and the business environment as well."

The experience set off a series of events that resulted with Dhillon being crowned Miss India Worldwide Canada 2010 — the first Manitoban to be bestowed with the title.

She’ll compete for the Miss India Worldwide crown in South Africa next March, vying in the only international Indian pageant against contestants from more than 25 other countries.

Dhillon — who was born in Winnipeg after her parents immigrated from India — can’t quite explain her late entry into the pageant world.

"I’ve watched the Miss Universe, the Miss USA pageants on TV, but that never seemed like something I could relate to, because those girls — I just never had a connection with them," she said. "When I saw the Miss India pageant, I don’t know if it’s because I’m Indian and I saw that connection but… a light bulb just went off."

After returning from India, Dhillon decided to take a chance and entered the Miss India Canada pageant. She surprised herself by finishing as a runner-up, and thought maybe that was the end of it.

Then, during a second trip to India last November, she was approached by the organizers of Miss India Worldwide, who had heard of her success at the Miss India Canada pageant.

Because the pageant is relatively unknown, Miss Indian Worldwide Canada is selected through a vigorous audition process, "kind of like American Idol," Dhillon explained. "It was just a matter of connections and good timing," Dhillon laughed, adding she was selected over thousands of other applicants.

Part of what attracted Dhillon to the Miss India Worldwide pageant is the focus on a woman’s inner beauty, she said.

"What’s great about this pageant is there’s no swimsuit (portion), so I don’t feel like I’m being put on stage to basically (be) scrutinized," she said. "It’s more ‘what is this girl about, and why does she want to be a role model’. It’s focused on that, which I think is inner beauty."

Dhillon’s time is now split between preparing for the Miss India Worldwide pageant — looking for sponsors, getting advice from previous Canadian contestants, and working on her Bollywood dance routine for the talent portion of the competition — and fulfilling her duties as Miss Indian Worldwide Canada.

In the long term, she hopes to launch a national fundraiser to provide work training to women in India.

The idea came to Dhillon as she reflected on her visits to the country, where she witnessed the immense poverty that can affect women in particular. "It’s really sad to see how my life could have been so different if I had just been born in a different country," she said.

"Right now what I’m really focusing on is getting involved in my community, because we’ve never a girl from Manitoba win," she said. "It’s something new and it’s exciting."

arielle.godbout@freepress.mb.ca