Rejection is Redirection – Varsha Rajkhowa Wants You To Believe in Yourself

India is home to the top winners of international beauty pageants. Their education, experience, confidence and willpower are what mould them into true representatives of the country and also help them bring laurels. Winning the Miss India pageant is a dream which many uphold, but only a few taste the glory of its success. It is not only a platform to represent one’s state, culture and traditions, but also a contest that provides a great opportunity to celebrate one’s beauty, passion, experience, thinking and journeys.

While we all consider ourselves to be beauty queens, there is Varsha Rajkhowa who has gone the extra mile to participate in one of the most prestigious beauty pageants in the world and make us all proud by bringing home the crown. Yes, we are talking about India’s first Miss Scuba International 2016, who continues to inspire many girls to follow dreams, and passion and make a mark. l for themselves. After winning the crown, there’s been no looking back from this Indian girl. Right from taking part in beauty pageants in college to becoming the Brand Face and Director of Miss Scuba India, Varsha has become a renowned name and face across the globe. She continues to be a showstopper wherever she goes, with her personality, beauty and confidence. In addition to being a Beauty Queen, she is a Business Entrepreneur, Ocean Ambassador, Speaker and Environmentalist by profession. Varsha wears multiple hats of a TEDx speaker, a model, a climate change leader, an international-grade dancer, a choreographer, a national-level swimmer, a Pageant trainer & groomer, an influencer and a trained scuba diver. She is also the brand face for Miss Scuba India and pageant director and Ambassador of MAPS(Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary) Canada. Also, she launched her media, fashion and environment company OCEANIC DIVAS which provides a platform for the youth to make their dreams into reality through their professional training and grooming.

Fall down seven times, stand up eight” – Japanese proverb. Far too often, many of us tend to take rejection as a stop sign, rather than considering it as a step towards success. Rejection is an unfortunate but necessary part of human experience. Yes, rejection is harsh, extremely disheartening and sometimes it truly is crushing. While everyone feels bad facing rejection, Varsha decided otherwise to give her best even after getting 17 prominent and 35 rejections in a row and make a mark for herself, because as she quotes there is always something to learn from every rejection. You gotta pick yourself up, be confident and believe in yourself. She reminisced her parents’ words that life is never easy. It is a journey without reservations and pre-planning; you will fall, and you will fail no matter how well you are prepared. But it’s you who decides how to accept your failure, rise again and face the challenge to fight the same battle. Varsha took rejection positively and kept on moving. Fortunately, her persistence paid off and became an Ocean Ambassador after winning Miss Scuba International in 2016 with a strong cause of saving the ocean and the environment through beauty. Along with this, she is working on various projects related to spreading awareness about climate change and the environment.

Being an Ocean Ambassador, Varsha has accrued umpteen certificates and 25 awards for professional and social work. She also has big aspirations to promote the diving business and marine conservation as a worldwide ambassador now that she’s achieved this coveted title. Ms Rajkhowa has participated in initiatives such as Save Water, Walk for Water, and an environmental cyclothon with Climate Change Reality India. The second initiative she has been a part of is advocating the plastic reduction and reuse with Team Miracle, to further choose a sustainable way of life. She has done numerous talk shows and is associated with various NGOs for social work as well. She is making short films under her own production house to spread awareness about the environment and ocean, recently released are ‘Voice of Ocean’ and ‘Adams Ale’.

Varsha travels across the country and internationally to educate people about the climate crisis, ocean conservation and the importance of marine life for our future. She has done many endorsements for eco-friendly and sustainable products and continues to do so. She has also done underwater shoots with known photographers and is an underwater model as well. With her experience and knowledge, she wants to train and groom people who desire to be in the glamour industry. Build a team of volunteers to work towards environmental and ocean protection. Each year she is training and mentoring also sponsoring the Miss Scuba India Pageant winner and guiding her for the international pageant. She gives motivational speeches and inspires all age groups by visiting schools, colleges and institutes and sharing her journey and struggles. She wants to educate people about the current environmental situation which is alarming and how they can work individually towards protecting their future.

She wants to create a platform for people to learn about glamour and the environment and how to be a trailblazer. Through her experience of failures and rejection, she wants to create opportunities for all age groups to realize their worth and never give up. In addition, she reaches out to people with the message of sustainable living and why one should choose sustainable products. Varsha is a self-made beauty queen and model. Hailing from a defence background standing tall as a proud daughter of an Indian Air Force officer, she grew up learning the flyers spirit “touch the sky with glory”, she is forever grateful to her father, her entrepreneur mother who made seven gowns for her during her modelling competitions (now managing the styling and designing part for almost all her shows), her sister and to all the instructors she has had the opportunity to learn from in all pageants and competitions. To the ultimate power, she thanked all to bring in the energy of self-belief and make her shine and be where she is today.

Aside from her altruistic and inspirational efforts, she also has a large Instagram following. Instagram has inspired and pushed her to make her projects a success, while also providing her with a deeper understanding and a larger network to communicate with.

Follow her on Instagram:@varry22rajkhowa