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Sangeeta Virmani becomes Miss India Canada

Thursday, 10 July 2003, 00:00 Hrs

TORONTO: Sangeeta Virmani did not think she would come even close to being chosen Miss India Canada but she believed she was a winner anyway just by entering the contest.

At a well-attended 13th annual Miss India Canada Beauty Pageant held in Toronto's International Plaza Hotel, Virmani, 24, beat 15 other contenders for the crown when she confidently unfolded her plot-line for any Bollywood-Hollywood movie she might write the script for, answering the final question testing her presence of mind and confidence.

Being the child of a single-mother, Virmani said she would write a story about the bravery, challenges and sacrifices faced by a South Asian woman bringing up children as a single-parent in Canada. It got the judges to her side without question.

"I didn't think I would come even close to winning," Virmani told IANS. "We all went in there mentally prepared so in a way, we are all winners already," said Virmani who hails from Regina, Saskatchewan, where her mother Joginder awaited her one-minute call when the results were announced.

The event was organized by Canada India Beauty Quest, and the chief guest this year was veteran Bollywood actress Rati Agnihotri who was given a lifetime achievement award. It was co-presented by Movado watches.

The judges included Chantel Guertin, Assistant Editor of reputed Elle Magazine, Rishma Malik, actress in the popular movie Bollywood-Hollywood directed by Deepa Mehta, Anita Sharma, Business Anchor at CBC TV Morning News, and Steven Cohen, President of Movado Group of Canada, Inc., Suboth Bhardwaj, barristor and solicitor, Pallan Katgara, Director, TCI Travel Corporation, Peter Alexander Marrello, Art and Marketing Consultant for National Homes, Naushad Memon, photographer, editor, and director, and Kishor Patel, President and CEO of Indo-Overseas Management Group.

Virmani won a diamond set, a complete dental checkup, a 500 Canadian dollar scholarship, an area rug, a Samsung camera, 5-day hotel stay at Mumbai, a saree, a watch, a cosmetic gift package, a round-trip ticket to Inida, and a Pentium IV computer.

"It's great to get the computer. Finances are a constraint. To me, the computer is a vehicle for making my education more successful," said Virmani, who is working during her summer holidays at a law firm in Regina that co-sponsored her trip to Toronto. She plans to make a profession in the field of criminal justice and is currently in university in Edmonton, Alberta.

"At this time, the only thing that stops me is that I want to graduate and then work to help bring up my other sisters. Being the eldest I feel that sense of ownership," said Virmani whose father died more than 10 years ago. "My mother has not married again or left us alone anywhere and she has sacrificed for us," said Virmani who has 2 sisters, Natasha 17 and Priya 19.

"My whole objective was to take my fathers name - I had made a promise to him I would keep his name - I want to make his name shine and want it to be living on with dignity and respect."

Virmani's cousin and family were attending the event here in Toronto but her mother said she could not make it because she was working to make enough money to keep Virmani in university.

Last year, Virmani won Miss Alberta South Asia, encouraged by Kumar Sharma, a promoter in Calgary, and she says he had advised her to apply for this contest as well. "I did not think I was material for that kind of thing. There's a direction in life we have to choose, and sometimes, people make it easier to go through it. My family, the entire community of Regina, and Kumar Sharma - have all been supportive," she said.

"I feel very good when my kids reach some goals in their lives. I am with them hundred percent. I have no concerns about them going into beauty contests. I have full confidence in my children," Joginder Virmani told IANS from her home in Regina. A Registered Practical Nurse, she says she teaches her three daughters to make the right choices.
Source: IANS

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