Rooting for Ravneet

BY PREETI JABBAL

“Let’s be perfectly honest. If you have a profile, it helps to promote your cause. And that is the main reason why I chose to enter the Mrs. Australia pageant,” confessed Indian-born Australian citizen Ravneet Kaur, who has been shortlisted as a finalist out of hundreds of hopefuls. The ‘cause’ in focus is a charity called ‘Simply Equal’ that Ravneet is passionate about. She registered the charity in 2008 to support and fight for equality of women in society. Ravneet is hopeful that through her journey in the Mrs. Australia pageant, her charity may get more visibility and recognition.

“The Mrs. Australia pageant comes across as more than a traditional beauty pageant,” she said. “Their focus is on improving self-esteem and self-empowerment of its participants. They are committed to working with their local communities and they encourage participants to be involved in these programs. This appealed to me and I decided to send in my application. I thought this would be a great way to bring more exposure to my cause and it will give me more experience in developing my charity further.”

When Ravneet got selected as a finalist, she was elated. As part of the pageant, all the national finalists are expected to organise fundraising events for the charity ‘Women In Need’ (WIN). WIN Australia supports women that have come from abusive backgrounds. The fundraisers will be held on March 27 and the contestants can score well based on how creative and successful they are in raising funds. Ravneet is in the process of finalizing details of her own fundraising event that will involve art (her other passion) and mothers and children.

Ravneet is currently also involved in organising an event in association with San Franciscobased charity Petals in the Dust. Walk for India’s Missing Girls is a peaceful march to protest female feoticide and infanticide in India, and to remember victims of this crime. Walk for India’s Missing Girls will be held in Delhi, Mumbai, Pondicherry, Kuwait, Dublin, Melbourne, Ontario and San Francisco. As part of this global event Ravneet and her supporters will walk from Moreland Station to the Indian Consulate at Munro Street in Coburg.

“We will be carrying posters with us that will create more awareness on this issue. We will also carry flowers as a symbol of precious life of a girl child. The silent march will stress to the Indian Government the importance of addressing this key issue on an urgent basis,” disclosed Ravneet.

This feisty girl from a little village near Amritsar in Punjab will compete with 40 other contestants from across Australia for the crown of Mrs. Australia. The pageant will be held in Melbourne in July this year. In 2010, the Mrs. Australia prize pool is valued at over $30,000 and the winner will also have the opportunity to take part in a smile makeover valued at over $18,000 USD from Burbank labs. The winner will represent Australia at the Mrs. Globe pageant.

Ravneet smiled when asked how her preparation was going for the finals. “We are selected on the basis of our community involvement so my main focus is my charity and the upcoming fundraiser at the moment. I am hoping to get more sponsors and support,” she said.

This feisty girl from a little village near Amritsar in Punjab will compete with 40 other contestants from across Australia for the crown of Mrs. Australia

Raising awareness for equality of women is a subject close to Ravneet’s heart based on her own past experience. She is currently in the process of getting a divorce from her husband who she claims ‘changed dramatically after getting a permanent residency in Australia’. She had an arranged marriage but things did not work out, and she had to go through a lot of hardships and pressures from her in-laws and husband. According to Ravneet, things reached a point where her husband left her with a large debt on her credit card at a time when she wasn’t earning much. As a result of the marriage breakdown she went through depression, but eventually regained her confidence with the support of her parents.

Life as a Mrs. has not been a bed of roses for Ravneet but let’s hope life as Mrs. Australia will bring more promise.