By Mia Anthony
Defying her own doubts and dominating the stage in India, Aruna Sukhdeo was on June 18, crowned Miss India Worldwide 2023, making her the second Guyanese to win the title in 30 years.
The 20-year-old, who is a Business Economics student at the University of Guyana, revealed that the Miss India Guyana pageant, which was her springboard to the international stage, was the first one she had entered on such a scale. But she almost quit early in the game because of the claims that the industry was oversexualised.
“Before entering pageantry, I was almost consumed… always thinking to myself: it’s a beauty pageant why do they need to do this? And I ended up doing my research,”she said. She related that her findings showed that the Miss Universe pageant has also considered discontinuing the use of the bikini competition.
“When I got into the Miss India Guyana pageant, I realised that we shouldn’t view pageantry as beauty pageants but just pageants, cause the minute you put beauty in front of it, it overlooks the entire purpose of pageantry,” Sukhdeo said.
For her, pageantry is a platform that gives young women a voice and should not just be about looks, but also about how one composes oneself. She admitted that when she started pageantry she also thought it was just going to be about the pretty dresses, makeup and hairstyles but was soon awakened to the reality that it was much more than meets the eye.
She went on to argue that the stigma linked to the male modelling and pageantry profession should be removed because it inherently labels males who participate in such events as gay.
She also addressed the preconception around the pageant’s question and answer section, noting that most people assume it is to check if someone is bright or not. “It wasn’t that. It was to see, if we chose this person, how well she can speak on a topic; what is her confidence level like,” she pointed out.
Even though she had many thoughts of quitting, and trials with remembering her choreography, she had help from her pageant sisters, family members and managers who all held her together and allowed her to push through and persevere. She said she had to allow “fear to fuel [my] courage”, put it all behind her and do her best because she knew she had people she did not want to disappoint.
Sukhdeo also had an aim: to bring more light to mental health awareness. Her advocacy is for mental health knowledge to be accepted into schools, noting her own difficulties with depression in her early teen years. She hopes to use her voice and platform to allow others to be heard, especially those who do not feel they have one and are battling things that others may not understand.
Sukhdeo said that her local win, besides earning her a place in the international pageant, opened the door for her to model for Nachle Designs at ‘Moonlight Stories’ which was her first fashion show. It also pushed her to the limits and allowed her to excel and discover things she didn’t even know about herself.
She pointed out that when you join these pageants you are a representation of your country, an ambassador of your people and that you have to be willing to put in the work, as “it’s not just a reflection of you but of the people from your country”.
Sukhdeo hopes that she can inspire more men and women to join the world of pageantry. She thanked her family and friends for their unwavering support during her journey to the crown and urged young girls to persevere and never give up on their aspirations.
