‘Beauty is about carrying yourself in the best possible way’: Mrs India One in a Million pageant winner

Most of us have dreams, but not all of them come true. For Aayushi Jain, it was indeed a dream come true moment when she was crowned Mrs India One in a Million 2022, held this month at Hotel Crown Plaza, Gurugram. She competed against 70 women from different parts of the country to clinch the title.

The 32-year-old from Delhi admired beauty pageants as a young girl. “It became my passion that I could not pursue until now because I thought my height would not meet the criteria. But I was enamoured of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sushmita Sen, and more recently Harnaaz Sandhu, and kept hoping I will achieve something similar one day,” Aayushi shares.

As the desire lingered on, she went on to complete her graduation in BCom at Apeejay College of Fine Arts (ACFA), Jalandhar. Meanwhile, she dedicated her time to baking. “It started as a hobby but gradually turned into a profession. So, after I got married in 2010, I continued with my baking venture.”

When the Mrs India pageant was announced this year, Aayushi realised it was the right time to take the leap. The mother-of-two says, “My son is almost five and my daughter is eight. So, they are quite independent when it comes to their day-to-day activities. Their routine was not likely to get disturbed if I was away for some time.

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“My husband was the first person I discussed my plans with. He was very supportive and encouraged me to go ahead. I wanted to discover if I really had it in me to participate in a beauty pageant or if it was just all in my head,” she laughs.

‘There was no pressure to win the pageant title’

“I did not exactly think about winning the competition but rather took it one day at a time. There was no pressure. Making it to the top three in itself was a huge achievement for me,” states the Mrs India One in a Million winner.

After the audition round, the qualifiers had to clear some more rounds of competition — from the talent round to the state national round and fitness round, before reaching the grand finale. “For the talent round, I performed a semi-classical dance which was an exciting challenge for me since I am not a dancer; in the state round, in which I had to represent Delhi, I channelled the regal era of the Mughals through my attire. Prior to that, we also had very good grooming sessions where we were taught how to walk the ramp, pose, and so on,” she adds.

In the final Q&A round for the top three contestants, the judges asked them to suggest steps that could be taken at a national level for women empowerment. “I suggested three steps: Equal pay for equal work, creating more job opportunities for women, and opening schools for girl education at the grassroots,” says Aayushi, which eventually got her the prestigious title in the platinum category.

The jury comprised Rohit Dhingra, GK Aggarwal, Payal Singh, Prashant Chaudhary, Swati Dixit, Swarina Singh, and Anjali Sahni. Former Mrs World and actor Aditi Govitrikar was also present as a celebrity guest and jury member.

‘Beauty is not just about physical features’

Amid all the glitz and glamour, beauty pageants have caught the attention of critics in recent years for limiting femininity and promoting non-inclusive beauty standards, affecting millions of women’s perceptions across the world.

As an outsider, Aayushi had a similar opinion too, but the Mrs India pageant turned out to be an eye-opener, she stresses. “The pageant changed my perception and busted several myths for me. Earlier, I thought they gave more weightage to conventional standards of beauty. But I was amazed and happy to see how the pageant included women with different body types from all walks of life. Beauty is not about physical features but about carrying yourself in the best way possible. I was very happy to meet my fellow contestants and get inspired by their stories.”

Contrary to popular notion, Aayushi did not resort to a restricted lifestyle for the pageant. She followed her usual healthy diet and did exercises. “I don’t believe in crash diets. I try to maintain a calorie deficit in my diet by eating balanced meals that contain protein, fat, and carbs in the right amounts. As for snacks, I eat sprouts and salads. Besides, I did strength training at home for 30-40 minutes. During the cool-down period, I did yoga, which helped me during the fitness round. A balanced lifestyle is key to staying healthy.”

It has only been a few days since the grand finale and Aayushi is overwhelmed with happiness. “I am still unable to articulate my feelings! I keep thinking of how my heart raced at the time of the announcement of the winner. I have actually started believing in the saying that if you really want something and manifest it, the universe conspires to help you achieve it. My entire family was overjoyed and excited. My brother was my biggest pillar of support and was the one who pushed me. The journey has been amazing and all I can say is that I am grateful,” she says.