Hi all it's the second day of the year and I thought of sharing a story which I think of every time I doubt myself. It's an inspiring story and I don't know how much you will like it but every time I think of it my heart dances with joy. So this story goes back to the year 2015. I was in college pursuing my post graduation when I came across an article that stated beauty contest was going to be held in our town. Now when it comes to beauty pageants we don't consider everybody beautiful, we judge people who are already beautiful. Like there are standards that the participants should have, a particular height,particular measurements, particular weight and I never fit those standards. But I thought of inquiring more about it and on inquiring I got to know that every girl can participate. There wasn't any height bar or age bar. I asked my parents for permission to participate but they denied. My father said he doesn't want me to participate in such competitions and the rest is my choice so I took the other half of his statement and I said you have left half of the decision-making on me and I decide to participate. 

I went to the venue on the day of auditions and there I saw I was the shortest girl among 45 participants. Girls from cities around town had also participated. Inspite of wearing heels I was the shortest. But it crush my confidence. After auditions when I reached home late I was a rebuked by my mother. Still I continued. Two days after the competition was there. There were many rounds but for those rounds two types of attires where demanded. The first one was western dress and the other one was Indian dress. In my family I am not allowed to wear dresses so I had none. I asked my classmates and one of my classmates agreed to lend her dress to me and for Indian dress I thought of wearing a lehenga and that too I never had. I borrowed it again from another friend whose mother was very excited because I was participating in a pagean. 

On the day of the competition my parents scolded me and told me that if I go for it then they will not allow me to come back home. Still I got ready packed my another dress, my makeup( everything that I had borrowed from my aunts, every single piece of jewellery) got ready and went to the venue. Everybody on the way was staring at me but still I kept walking. On reaching the venue I saw a girls getting out of the cars, coming straight from parlours. I went inside,competition started,did my best and to my surprise I won a round. I got the title of Miss beautiful smile, I even managed to reach the top 5 contestants. Evertime I went back stage there were 15 or 19 or 14 missed calls from my parents. After the competitio got over I was very happy. When I reached back home my parents were very angry with me they even raised their hands on me and they did not even ask what I got,what I won. But that was ok. The next day the news was in the newspaper and then my parents started getting congratulations calls. That's when they asked me what had I won. I felt bad because parents of every contestant participating were there except mine. From my side there was no one. But at times you have to be alone,you have to prove yourself,you have to show the world that you can do it. Just trust yourself!