Meet the Silchar Medical College student who reached TGPC Finals

By Kushal Deb Roy On August 25, 2019 - 2:27 am

Who says beauty pageants are too fancy a dream for a small-town girl? Or being tall is a must to participate in pageants? Who says big fancy dreams and a well-settled carreer doesn’t go hand in hand?

Breaking all these stereotypes, here is the finalist of India’s ‘Miss TGPC (The Great Pageant Community) Season 7’, Tejaswini B Rabha. A dreamer who believes in doing, Rabha was born in Bongaigaon, Assam. This 19-year-old is currently pursuing her MBBS degree in Silchar Medical College and Hospital, Assam.

Tejaswini believes that India’s Miss TGPC is the best online beauty pageant in the world where one gets to compete from their home. “It’s an honor to be a part of the stage which has been walked by Beauty Queens like Nehal Chudasama (Miss Universe India 2018), Shraddha Shashidhar(Miss Universe India 2017), Priyanka Kumari (Fbb Colors Femina Miss India 2017 2nd runner up) previously.” Tejaswini Rabha said during an interaction with Barak Bulletin’s contributor and a student of National Institute of Technology, Kushal Deb Roy.

Edited Excerpts:

What motivated you to get into beauty pageants?

I’ve been always fascinated by pageants. When I was a kid I used to look up to models like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai Bacchan. One day while watching their performance videos, I noticed that in big international pageants like Miss Universe, Miss World, etc. delegates are not called by their names but by their country’s name. That was the day when I started dreaming about being called Miss India and carry the legacy of these two timeless icons.

How do you manage your medical studies and chase your modeling dream simultaneously?

If you are passionate nothing is impossible. I would be lying if I say it’s easy to manage both but it is not impossible. I believe if you are passionate about something you will somehow continue to work for it no matter how hectic or tiring your schedule is. It’s not about having time or not, it’s about taking out time for it. When you love doing something you never feel tired. So same thing goes for me as well.

How have these beauty pageants and modeling influenced you as a person?

TGPC has always taught me to stop complaining about the things I lack and be proud of being who I am. The pageants gave me the guts to proudly say with confidence…”I am Tejaswini B Rabha and I stand 5 feet and 2 inches tall.

Who is your inspiration, who motivates you to do this?

Beauty Queen, our first Miss Universe from India Sushmita Sen.

Going forward if a situation arises where you are asked to choose between medical practice or modeling what will you decide to go with?

Modeling and pageantry are my passion. I would love to continue in these two fields. But when it comes to medicine it is something my mother has always dreamt about. She has worked very hard to fulfill all my necessities so it’s now my time to fulfill her dream of watching me treating patients with a stethoscope around my neck. Modeling will forever remain as a passion but medicine for me is career.

How difficult was it for you to convince your parents before entering beauty pageants?

Honestly like every parent my mom was also against me participating in pageants. In season 5, I filled up the application form without informing her. I paid the registration fee from my savings. Later on, when she saw me doing really well she realised that I have that capability to shine in this field and she started supporting me wholeheartedly. This season since the beginning she’s with me.

There are many in this region who would love to be a model but do not have the courage as they fear the social stigma. What would be your suggestion to them?

Look, it all depends on you and your perspective. It’s not the people who are related to the modeling world have made it worse. It’s the mindset of people who actually make it look bad. You need to understand what modeling basically means. When you’re a model you basically work for different designers, they show their creations through you and I feel there’s nothing bad about it. Also, there’s a huge difference between modeling and pageantry. In pageants, the organizers look for someone to represent their organisation and these days it also focuses on lots of social work, whereas in modeling you are someone who showcases the creations of designers, photography skills of photographers.