Gargi Nandi of Meghalaya wins Miss India Global title; "90 per cent of my supporters are Khasis, they are proud of me"

In 2016, Priyadarshini Chatterjee, a Bengali girl from Assam won the Miss India title. She was one of the top 10 contestants representing India in the Miss World pageant that year. Gargi Nandi, another Bengali girl, has again made the North-East proud this year following the legacy. Sylheti girl Gargi represented Meghalaya state in the Miss India Global pageant. She won the final of the competition in Goa last week. Miss India Global will send their winners to the International Pageant which will be held in 2021. Gargi has the dream of becoming Miss Universe in the future. Offers from the South Film Industry have already started pouring in, however, she wants to spend some more time with pageants and then decide it for herself. Despite being the daughter of a Bengali family in Shillong she has represented the state at the national level proving that she was a worthy candidate and returned home only after winning the title. In an exclusive interview with Barak Bulletin, Gargi Nandi expressed her feelings and views.

The news of discrimination and harassment of Bengalis in Meghalaya is making recurring headlines everyday. The Khasi Students’ Organisation two months back put up posters at the heart of Shillong calling every Bengali living in Meghalaya a Bangladeshi, adding a topping to the ongoing furor and chaos. At a time like this, a Bengali girl Gargi Nandi represented the hilly state in the beauty pageant. She is now going to represent the country at the international level next year. How does that feel?

Answering our question, Gargi replied, “I have been born and raised in Shillong. Most of my friends are from the Khasi community. I have never been abused or mistreated by them for being a Bengali even once. If they had not accepted me I would not have won this competition. From my mentors to people of Khasi community, they have inspired me to move forward. 95% of the votes I received in the popular category came from my state, meaning the Khasis did not shy away from voting for me. When I was on my way to Goa after reaching the finals, many of my friends have helped me throughout the journey as far as possible. Most of them are from the Khasi community so how can I say that the Bengalis are not getting acceptance here? A few untoward incidents have occurred but I believe criminals don’t have any caste or religion. I don’t want to comment on those who said wrong things about the incident that took place. But I am a citizen of Meghalaya who was favoured by people of every community living in the state. Everyone gave me a warm welcome even before I returned home victorious, the local media was very happy with me. My friends and acquaintances are happier than I am at my success. Most of them are from the Khasi community. Nobody said my success didn’t matter to them because I was a Bengali.”

The winners of the Miss India Global pageant get a chance to represent the country in the international pageant. Gargi Nandi is the first to win this competition as a Meghalaya contestant. This year, almost all international competitions have got cancelled owing to the covid pandemic. Among the beauty pageants, only Miss Earth has been completed this year. The rest of the pageants like Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss International are not happening this year. However, each country has already created its own set of competitors. There have been a few competitions in India so far with only the Miss India World remaining. Among those, Gargi won the Miss India Global. Commenting about the feeling of participating in the competition she said, “In the national level competition there’s a section where one has to showcase the culture of one’s own state, called the ‘National Costume Competition’. I wore traditional costumes of Meghalaya and North East there. The judges were much pleased about it. In addition, the ‘Beauty with the Purpose’ section examines the social responsibilities of the contestants where I informed them of having taken a step towards educating the girls and giving them job opportunities. One of the reasons why the hill girls are lagging behind financially is the lack of education along with hygiene problems. The judges again praised me for it. The final round was discussion about violence against girls in the country. The situation of girls in our state is different from other parts of the country. Meghalaya is a women-dominated state due to which girls are looked from a different perspective here. So my answer was a bit different and unique from other contestants. The judges considered me the winner and this was the best moment of my life. However, it is said that the beauty pageant is just not a title, it is also an added responsibility. There is a lot of work to be done to keep my words that I said on the stage. Hopefully, with the help of this title, I will be able to get closer to the women of my state and talk about their problems. ”

Her father, who worked for the Government in Shillong, was in West Bengal for a year for job, then returned to the state. Along with her father, Gargi Nandi has had the opportunity to travel in different areas since her childhood. Her mother runs a small business helping women through it. After higher secondary, Gargi moved to Bangalore for studying mass communication. She was introduced to the fashion world there but the pageant is a completely different thing. Speaking about the journey she told us, “Since my mother taught us to tidy and clean ourselves from an early age, we still have that habit. I have seen fashion shows in Bangalore, participated, even modeled for different brands in my state. After returning home due to lockdown, many people asked me to take part in the beauty pageant. I became the first runner-up in the state level selfie contest. Then I tried for Femina Miss India but could not spend much time there. Later my mentor informed me about the Miss India Global Contest and they forced me to participate in it. He also guided me through the whole process. What I couldn’t see in myself they did. I left home and became Miss Meghalaya and this time I won the title of Miss India Global.”

Gargi Nandi has already received an offer from the south film industry. But she does not want to go into the world of acting now, she wants to enjoy a little more success in the pageant world for some time to come. “I didn’t dream of becoming Miss India from the beginning, but the more I found out about the pageant, the bigger my dream became. This time I won a national level competition, I hope to succeed on the international platform as well. I also want to qualify in Femina Miss India or Miss Diva contest to become the Miss Universe or Miss World. I want to participate in these competitions not only to build a career for myself but also to prove myself as a good human being. I would be able to help the downtrodden people of the whole world if I become Miss Universe or Miss World. Besides, acting is not an easy thing, there is a lot to learn for performing it. I believe that if you want to achieve something in life, you have to prepare yourself for it first. I gave myself enough time to prepare for the pageant. Similarly in case of acting, I will make myself capable enough first and then accept any offer. ”

Gargi, who loves to study as well as play tennis, has played state level mixed doubles in Tripura with Somdev Debbarman’s brother. “My parents never stopped us from learning anything, they helped us along the sidelines. Girls in our state have a lot of opportunities to build themselves. I was interested in fashion as well as playing tennis. I have a different kind of attraction towards tennis. If any girl around me dreams of becoming a tennis player or a world beauty in the future, I will be by her side.”

The English version of the story has been written by Adwoy Purkayastha