Turns Out, Sushmita Sen Got Her Miss India Winning Gown Stitched By A Local Tailor. Wait, It Was Not Designer?
One of the very first women that I began to look up to in the entertainment industry, once I was old enough to make sense of it was the proud Miss India Sushmita Sen who was crowned at the tender age of 19 years in 1994. My fascination for her had less to do with her looks and more to do with her personality and her will to keep going even when the odds were not in her favour. From not backing down from the pageant even when she found out Aishwarya Rai had enlisted her name, to now when she revealed the kind of hardships she faced during the pageant, there is so much we can learn from this woman.
But why are we talking about Sushmita’s Miss India moment right now? Well because a clip of hers has recently become on of the top trending videos on social media. In this footage taken from a show, she talks about how her winning gown of the Miss India pageant came about, and it took us down to the memory lane and reminded us probably why she won in the first place.
A short clip that shows her talking about her gown, Sushmita can be seen saying, “”Itne paise nahi the ki hum designer kapde pehen ke stage par jaye. Char costumes chahiye the. Hum middle class ke log hai aur humko humari restrictiosn maloom thi (We didn’t have enough money to afford designer outfits. We needed four costumes. We were middle-class people and we knew our restrictions),”
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She further revealed how, “Mummy ne kaha, ‘So what? Kapde dekhne thodi arhe hai log, tumhe dekhne arhe hai. Toh chalo, shuru ho gye, kapde khareed ke laaye gaye Sarojini Nagar market (a flea market in New Delhi) se. Humare neeche, garage mein, ek petticoat silne wala aadmi tha, unko jaakar thama dia aur kaha, ‘Dekho bhaiya, TV pe aane wala hai, accha banana.’ Unhone uss fabric ke sath mera winning gown tyaar kia, mummy ne bache hue fabric ko mod k ek rose bnaya aur fir kala socks, brand new khareed ke kaat ke, usmein elastic daal ke gloves pehne the maine (My mother said, ‘So what? They are not going to look at your clothes, they are going to look at you.’ So we bought a piece of fabric from Sarojini Nagar market. Downstairs, in the garage, there was a local tailor who made petticoats. We gave him the material and said, ‘This will come on TV, make a good dress.’ He made my winning gown out of that fabric and my mother made a rose out of the remaining fabric. We bought brand new black socks, cut it, put elastic in it and then I wore them as gloves).”
She then goes on to say, “Mere liye woh din, jis din main woh dress pehen ke Miss India jeeti thi, mere liye itni badi baat hai. Insaan ko jo chahiye hota hai, uske liye paise ki zarurat nai hoti, insaan ki intentions sahi honi chahiye (The day I won Miss India wearing that gown was a very big day for me. You don’t need money to get what you want, your intention should be right),” and she couldn’t have been right.
Often, we let our circumstances take the fall for our lack of will and courage, but it is women like Sushmita Sen that play against all odds, stand tall and prove that absolutely nothing is impossible if you really put your heart and soul into it. She went on to further win the title of Miss Universe and adopt girl kids as a single mother.
The former Miss Universe is currently quarantining with her two daughters, Renee and Alisah and her boyfriend, Rohman Shawl, and keeping herself occupied and fit by sharing inspiring workout videos every now and then.
