Chloe Qureshi, who has made a history by becoming the first-ever pregnant contestant at the Mrs. India 2023 pageant, speaks to The Pioneer in an exclusive chat about her preparations for the pageant, exploring the new path, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
In a groundbreaking moment, Chloe Qureshi makes history as the first-ever pregnant contestant at Mrs. India 2023! How could we have let go of this spellbinding interview with a woman who is celebrating strength, beauty, and resilience — all at the same time? A true polymath by nature, she recounts, “We give way too much importance to religion in our lives. Something that’s bonding the human race under one roof is not culture but love among us. I was brought into this world in a Catholic family and married delightfully into a Muslim family, and our point of commonality anomalously is our cuisine.”
So, the yoga practitioner who is balancing her passion and motherhood continued, “I prepared for the pageant in spite of being pregnant very vehemently — I was beginning in my first month and didn’t know what was in store for me. The body changes and hormones change as we proceed further in the phases of gestation. My husband made me walk down this path! I wasn’t pregnant when I became a semi-finalist, which came as a bombshell to me in the middle of a pageant journey. I didn’t back out! I thought to myself, ‘This could be a moment of documentation’’ and it indeed was because when I was walking the ramp, I felt so mighty. I could set an example for other mothers that pregnancy is a very natural physiological process, and that doesn’t stop you from feeling capable. Pregnancy was never an illness! For preparation, our main mecca was doing yoga to keep my baby healthy. I always dreamed of being historical, institutional, empowering, and successful. This is my way of bringing change into this society.”
She discovered her passion again, and it’s fulfilling to hear. Exploring this new path in her career, she said, “My sister-in-law was training me. So to speak, there was no personality training involved for me because my mother raised me well. My former bosses, Shobhaa and Ektaa Kapoor, coached me to be a commissioned public personality. It took some voice crafting training, though.”
This exceptional powerhouse was perhaps blessed because “I didn’t have to go through any morning sickness. I underwent a calm pregnancy and endured mood swings, and that’s okay. I am allowed to! My sacrifices are finally yielding results for me. I have made a lot of careers and built the lives of many in the entertainment industry — the stars you see on television. It’s time for me to be the agent of change now. For example, I don’t want women to attach the ideology of fear to pregnancy and go on the path of caesarean section. I want the women to be more informed about the labour and midwifery processes!”
Her other indicator, she explained, was, “I know how the public domain consumes you, so I want to advocate for children here. They are suffering across the world! I really want to get rid of human suffering. Sushmita Sen or Priyanka Chopra are impactful. Even after becoming the utmost beauty queens, they continued philanthropy. The former is like an empress! She’s so graceful and profound in her speeches. These beauty queens taught me that physical beauty will one day fade away, but the way we treat people will last longer. For example, that’s how Lara Dutta is.”
Determined to inspire and empower women worldwide, Chloe’s beauty is the evolution of her soul. She continued, “I want to be courageous and glorious! I cannot be pretentious in this industry; there is no chance. There was a purpose for me to walk the ramp as someone who is pregnant—to break the gaze on how pregnant mothers are looked at. We are not unfit or incompetent if we are pregnant! The equity on physical beauty is way too much than it should be, and I broke that unconven tional norm with a beautiful belly.”
She recalls the time when audiences focused more on beauty pageants than movies; the atmosphere was so optimistic and upbeat towards beauty queens. It was a big deal! Everything has changed now, and Chloe witnessed it firsthand as the beauty went on to explain: “It’s just a mere business today; that could be a strong comment, but that’s how it is. There are an umpteen number of beauty pageants now! To be Miss India, Miss World, and Miss Universe was the biggest deal because those beauty queens made good use of their titles and served humanity. We don’t see that anymore! Everybody is making a mockery of each other, pageants have lost their essence now.”
