Gurdaspur’s ‘Taqdir’ sets her sights on Mrs Asia crown

Gurdaspur’s Taqdir is being talked about all over Punjab. In her home town, she has already become a household name, often being discussed at dinners and in banquets.

An Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the local GNDU Regional Campus, she started preparing for the Mrs India DK pageant with just one thing in mind: “Wohi hota hai, jo insaan ki taqdeer mein hai.”

Dr Taqdir began to dream about becoming Mrs India about a year ago, exactly at the time when this edition of the carnival was announced. As they say, dare to dream big, and then do something about it. The next 365 days were reserved for planning, executing her strategies and formulating tactics besides doing the groundwork. Her husband Dr Varinder Mohan, SMO at Singhowal Civil Hospital in Gurdaspur, stood firm behind her, “like the rock of Gibraltar”, as she says. The erudite lady recalls the words of American social activist Langston Hughes, “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

For a full year, the organisers put her through the rigmarole of attending daylong online classes. She had to undergo rigorous auditions, grooming sessions, cultural rounds, fitness challenges, ramp walks, video conferences and personal interviews.

By mid-September, when the competition was all set to be held, the venue being a five-star hotel in Delhi, she was ready and raring to go. Nearly 600 participants from all 28 states and the eight UTs of the country took part in the All-India DK Pageant Competition. The annual competition is the brainchild of Jimmy Garima Kumari, an Army officer’s daughter. She has decided to give others a chance to showcase their ‘beauty and brains’ by conceiving and executing such meets. The organisers’ tagline is, “We go beyond the conventional beauty standards, celebrating the elegance, wisdom and empowerment of married women.”

As the grand finale drew closer, Taqdir’s nervousness was replaced by an easy calm; the tentativeness gave way to an unquestionable assurance and the jitters disappeared into oblivion. After a long and arduous year, the day of reckoning had finally arrived. Both husband and wife were on train to Delhi. The organisers had termed it as the ‘Final Selection Day’.

Taqdir clinched the ‘Pride of Punjab; Mrs Punjab’ title, a prelude to the main competition. She had won the battle but the war still had to be fought. On the very next day, she stunned not only herself but also the audience by being crowned ‘Pride of India; Mrs India—Beauty with Brains.’ With this, she also won the title of ‘Social Media Diva’ for her significant presence on social media platforms.

The concept of ‘Taqdeer’ is the capability given to humans by God in order to shape their lives through their choices and actions.

Taqdir had successfully shaped her own choice with her own actions. She now has her sights firmly fixed on the Mrs Asia title.

In one stroke, she has become the city’s most recognisable face. She is complimented, feted and felicitated wherever she goes. Agreed, that she has become famous but at the same time she knows that true worth does not lie in public acclaim but in personal integrity and in contributing substantially to society. And that is what she intends to do even as she eyes the Mrs Asia title. So, after dominating Delhi, she is out to conquer the Orient by laying her hands on the coveted Mrs Asia trophy.