Pageant High - History - Ch-1 - India (1966)
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Welcome dear students to Pageant High, a reputed university in the world of pageantry where we shall be teaching you anything and everything pageants. This happens to be your first ever history class with us so today we shall be talking about the first ever benchmark set by Indians in the World of Pageantry. Let's travel back in time and witness the magic first hand, now shall we?
It’s 1966, pageantry has made its way into the Asian continent for quite a few years now and India is expecting its first ever victory at two of the biggest international pageants - Miss Universe and Miss World, with our strongest queens - Reita Faria and Yasmin Daji. Incredibly beautiful and extremely intellectual, these queens are unaware of the impact they are about to have on the world, especially for the growing world of pageants in India.
Reita Faria, the winner of 1966’s Miss India contest, was a medical student hoping to be a successful gynaecologist one day. She was born in Bombay, on 23rd August 1943 to Goan parents. Her father worked in a mineral water factory, while her mother ran a salon. She and her elder sister Philomena were brought up in a very middle class environment with nothing fancy or glamorous. Standing 5ft and 8 inches tall, Reita had previously participated in the Miss Bombay pageant, where she was crowned as the winner. She later went on to participate at the Eve’s Weekly Miss India pageant in the same year, which she also ended up winning, giving her the right to represent India at the annual Miss World Pageant. Coming from a middle class family, Reita borrowed a saree and a pair of footwear from one of her friends to participate in the Miss World competition. However, she could not fit into her borrowed wardrobe, owing to her height, which is why she had to purchase her own saree and heels. The crown of Miss World saw a total of 52 gorgeous women competing for it on 17th November, at the Lyceum Ballroom located in London.
Reita was announced as the winner of “Best in Swimsuit '' as well as the “Best in Evening Wear” for wearing a saree during the evening wear round. Reita won the crown for India - making her the first ever Indian to ever win an international beauty pageant, also making her the first asian woman to ever win the Miss World crown. Following her victory, Reita had to visit many countries and one such international trip was that of Vietnam where she went to support and cheer for the American troops during the Vietnam War. This was not very well received by the Indian government and she was highly criticised by the supporters of Vietnam. Post her reign, Reita began receiving offers from the modelling and acting industry of India, which were all declined by her as her dream was to pursue her medical career and become a gynaec. Reita will go on to become the first ever Miss World that could qualify as a physician. She would later go back to London for further studies, where she would fall in love with her mentor David Powell and marry him in 1971 and will have two beautiful daughters - Deirdre and Ann Marie. They live in Dublin as of 2022, the time we come from.
Yasmin Daji - Our bet for the universe this year, was a nineteen year old, yet another incredibly beautiful medical aspirant. Yasmin was born on 16th May 1947 in New York, USA. She won the title of Femina Miss India shortly before her 19th birthday - on May 8th 1966, also winning the rights to represent India at the Miss Universe competition that year. She had also won the title of Miss Beautiful Smile at Femina. Her performance at the annual Miss Universe competition was phenomenal, and it bagged her the 3rd runner up position at the international contest. This was the closest India had ever been to the most coveted Miss Universe crown uptill now. After gaining popularity as Miss Universe’s runner up, Yasmin became the face of Lure cosmetics in India and was also mentioned in the book - Pride Of India by none other than Miss India 1965 - Persis Kambatta. Post her Miss Universe journey, Yasmin completed her studies and shifted back to the United States, where she started practising medicine as a doctor and got married. She later had two sons. There were quite a few rumours and speculations about her death in the present time of 2022, but she is alive and in good health back in the USA.
1966, is the year that fueled the craze of pageants in India, motivating her to strive towards becoming the powerhouse of pageantry, a goal that she shall achieve in the 90s. This year and its Indian queens are also one of the oldest epitomes of feminism. We must remember that this was the time where not many girls were allowed to participate in events like beauty pageants, some were not even allowed to leave their homes. The fortunate ones that could somehow enter the industry were seen as mere pieces of attraction, who could be used as a beautiful face to attract audiences to watch movies or customers to buy endorsed products. In the era where girls were still denied education in most parts of the world, India gave the world not one, but two doctor queens.
