Petite Miss India Guyana 2019 Rashena Hanif was once a frail child who was frequently hospitalised, and who as a teenager was often made to feel embarrassed about her body type to the extent that she became depressed, but she was also a fighter as proven by her triumph just minutes into Monday morning on May 27.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity. I must say that the responsibility is something that I look forward because I see it as a [platform] I can use to express myself while being a role model for others…,” the 18-year-old said.
“Walking into work on Tuesday, everybody was clapping…,” she enthused about returning to work after winning.
The teen noted that in the run up to the pageant there were a few naysayers. Some thought that her petite frame would be her downfall. Others pointed out that because she was the youngest contestant and the only one with no pageant experience meant she did not have a chance at the crown. While such comments gave her pause, none were enough to make her quit.
“[When]… I was born, they didn’t expect me to live very long. I was… considered too weak to live. My mom and I were discharged two days after I was born. However, the same night of our discharge, I was rushed back to the hospital and was hospitalized for approximately two months in an incubator. I used to turn blue a lot of times. Let’s say I was discharged today, two weeks or a week later I’d be back again in the hospital,” she told The Scene.
By the time she was six years old, Rashena had been hospitalized numerous times, sometimes for up to a month. Rashena had a preauricular pit (a hole in her ear), for which she was required to have surgery. Her hearing was never affected, she said, but it became painful whenever she washed her hair or when it rained.
She never let any of that keep her back. While attending Al-Ghazali Islamic Academy, Rashena found sports becoming a sprinter and also running long distance and making the girls’ cricket team. Rashena was also a member of the debate club and during that time, constantly drew gowns, vowing to one day become a designer. Though that turned out to be a passing phase, her fascination with fashion, which had her constantly glued to the television whenever pageants were aired, specifically the Miss World Pageant, never waned. Her childhood was filled with her parading in her good dresses and heels too big for her feet.
But there was a flip side. She was also conscious of her small frame and everywhere she went, people she met ensured she never forgot. “I was called bones, skinny and sometimes it went to the extent of people calling me pointer,” she recalled. “Persons often said to me that I should eat more and made assumptions that I was starving myself when I’m pretty sure that I ate more than most of them. I’d run into strangers who may have meant it as a compliment, but they pointed it out.”
Getting emotional Rashena continued, “I was very depressed. At one point I used to cut my wrists….” When this was discovered, she was counselled at her school at a hospital. “Counselling taught me how to better cope with the situation. I learned how to love myself and accept who I am and what I looked like. It would again be pointed out even while I was competing for the pageant. However, the Miss India Guyana Pageant has helped me to be more of a confident person. Today I placed my own order here [Pegasus Hotel Restaurant]. I didn’t need my mother to do that for me. It has made public speaking easier for me,” she shared.
Once a stumbling block, Rashena plans to use being bullied as a motivation for her and is determined to use her platform as Miss India Guyana to visit schools, meet students and encourage them to love themselves and to be kind to others. “I want them to know that there are caring persons they can talk to about the things that affect them.”
The teen said that a good thing about being petite is being able to eat all you want and not gain weight especially since she likes eating. One disadvantage is finding clothes. One of her biggest challenges is finding clothing in her size. Even the smallest size needs to be altered. Her Evening Gown at the pageant was purchased the dress from renowned retailer Classic Styles. The peacock aquamarine gown was specially ordered for her. But she noted that altering may not always be the solution as some clothes can be damaged in the process. However, she does not always mind buying clothes a tad bigger, as she prefers to dress modestly.
While she had a few naysayers, Rashena also had many supporters, who saw her potential. Of the six contestants Rashena was one of the three girls with the most audience support. The pageant, she said, created a bond among the contestants and an environment filled with laughter. She highlighted one moment, which was after an interview with one of the media houses. One of the contestants spotted a bat and a ball and they started a game of cricket while still dressed in their saris. According to Rashena it was Hemwanttie Seodat, the contestant named Miss Congeniality, who was the life of the party. Her presence made every meeting a light one. During their game of cricket, they had agreed that they would not hit the ball too hard to cause it to end up in the nearby drain. They kept this up until it was Hemwanttie’s turn to bat. On collecting the bat, she promised to hit the ball for six and sure enough, it ended up in the drain. Apologising in a tiny Guyanese creole voice, she said, “Meh sarrie”, sending them into peals of laughter. From that day, throughout the pageant they all used “Meh sarrie” to apologise whenever anything went wrong.
Rashena had words of encouragement for girls wishing to contest in pageants. She urged them to develop themselves and take the opportunities as they came. “I know parents would be scared to let their children out especially girls,” she said, “but parents should trust the woman they would have created and all the values they would have instilled in her over the years. Don’t let her do it all on her own. Take the step with her. Go through the pageant journey with her and let her live her dream. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. No matter what people tell you, if you don’t believe in yourself, you’re never going to step forward and you’re never going to be the best you, you can be.
“Roshini Boodhoo has impacted my life in many ways. She’s been there for me through some really tough times. She was my pageant trainer also and is my dance teacher. She is a woman of her word. Roshini has also mastered the task of multitasking. I’ve watched her juggle family, performing arts and her career.” Rashena has been dancing with Rohini’s group the Jewan Ka Nritya Dance Group for the last seven months. Her biggest supporters were her family, specifically her mother, the young woman said.
Asked if she could meet anyone who it would be, Rashena said she would love to meet Miss World 1994, actress Aishwarya Rai who seems to be just as phenomenal behind the scenes as she is on set.
A second-year law student at School of the Nations, Rashena has taken a hiatus but plans on continuing her studies soon.
She enjoys eating fast food specifically pizza and fried chicken. She also likes shrimp curry and is more of a dhal puri than a rice person.
Rashena is also a makeup artist; she loves all the colours. She took up makeup artistry 2 years ago and while most of the work she has done has been glam makeup Rashena finds herself leaning towards theatrical makeup.
Rashena bested five other contestants at this year’s Miss India Guyana Pageant. Along with the title she walked away with the Miss Beautiful Face and Best Talent awards. She will be representing Guyana at the Miss India Worldwide Pageant in September.
