Canada-based humanitarian sights on Miss India World
Two Friday evenings ago Sangeeta Bahadur copped the Miss India Guyana 2017 crown, besting nine other beauties in front of a packed audience at the Marriott Hotel. But what many did not know is that the new queen has always been a queen but it took a coronation night to make it official.
Although the Canadian, who is of Guyanese parentage, only gained the official title of queen a day over a week ago, this remarkable young woman has always possessed the qualities of a queen, engaging in many charitable activities in and outside of Guyana for a number of years and it was only a matter of time before she was heralded and what better stage to do so than that of the Miss India Guyana 2017 pageant.
In a sit down with The Scene Sangeeta gave us the 411, beginning with what it feels like to be Miss India Guyana 2017.
“It is a phenomenal feeling. I put a lot of hard work in to getting here, a lot of practice, coordinating with the Miss India Guyana Organisation. That moment hearing my name called was just absolutely amazing and it’s still very surreal to me that I am the queen but I’m very proud to be the queen.”
She tried to remain confident throughout the pageant and felt very confident about making it to the top five but to win came as a surprise especially since the other contestants were strong contenders. She singled out first runner-up Ashmini Ramnauth for special mention as she had a lot of experience with pageantry including Miss World Guyana.
Sangeeta first competed at pageant level in the Miss West Indian Canadian 2016 in October last where she was the third runnerup. However, according to her there’s vast difference between the two pageants when it comes to the production and training which were considered to be of a much higher level at the Miss India Guyana Pageant.
“Running up to the pageant was a lot of hard work, the training was very intense. We had rehearsals every night about four to five hours into about two weeks running up to the pageant with our pageant coach, Derek Moore. We learnt our proper poses, to perfect our walk, how to carry our clothing and our opening dance routine”, said Sangeeta.
Training started two months prior to the pageant though it wasn’t as rigorous then. Sangeeta didn’t make it to Guyana however, until the two weeks leading up to the competition night due to work commitments back in Canada.
Sangeeta went on to say that winning has in no way changed her personality but has kept her humble. Part of having the title is realising that one needs to be down-to-earth and be a people person interacting with others from various levels.
‘Bond’
The new queen said she bonded with the contestants some of whom she became very close to and maybe it is her friendliness that resulted in her being voted Miss Congeniality.
“In that short time, from that award alone you can tell how much we bonded and got to know each other and I really believe I’ve made some lifelong friends, they’re my pageant sisters….”, Sangeeta shared, speaking on what she gained from the pageant experience.
Her platform ‘Preserving the Traditional Indian Arts and Culture while Encouraging Positive Youth Development’ was in sync with the humanitarian efforts she’s been executing all along, a plan she will continue to implement throughout her reign and after. She’s actively involved in the Nirvana Humanitarian Society situated at Kastev, Meten-Meer-Zorg on the West Coast of Demerara.
For five years Sangeeta has been back and forth between the two countries, making visits to Guyana sometimes three times a year in order to carry out her humanitarian activi-