A diamond is known for its lustre, beauty, craze but we must remember that a glistening diamond is also known for its strength. From the charcoal that underwent pressure and stress over time, a carbon on perseverance, upon polishing the facets, became a diamond. Likewise, every woman born on this earth has a face to show the world; every woman has a dream to pursue with perseverance.

Nasiha Sherif pursued her dreams and won the Mrs Universe UAE 2020. She represented India at the BeingSHE beauty pageant held at Dubai recently. Her journey from being a mother to beauty pageant is not as easy as it seems. Born in an affluent family of Sidha doctor mother and a marketing personnel father, Nasiha was brought up in a very conservative, orthodox Muslim family. She did her schooling in Chennai and Graduation in UAE.

Talking about her growing up days, she recalls, “Hailing from a conservative family, I did not get full support, initially, to pursue my dream of participating in a beauty pageant. And I got married. Finally, knowing my perseverance, my family gave me full support for me in this journey.” A sense of pride prevails as Nasiha speaks about the amount of support she got from her husband and family. She recalls about her inspirational mother who studied and became a Sidha doctor after becoming a mother of three children. She smiles and continues, “When I had to travel for the pageant, my family supported me and took care of our daughter. I was very grateful to receive this family support. I always derive my strength and courage from my mother.”

Nasiha says that initially, she had the routine hiccups to pursue her dreams, especially after the wedding. After becoming a mother, Nasiha’s family and friends gradually gave her full support. Fashion industry always comes with the ‘glamour’ tag. Nasiha was not at all ready to expose herself in the name of glamour. Given her family background, Nasiha’s firm decision was to not being glamorous to society in the exposing skin kind of way, and she believed beauty and fashion is more than being glamorous. That is when, in 2020, she came across the “BeingSHE” beauty pageant contest and participated in the same, representing India.

BeingShe is a platform to encourage women to embrace their uniqueness and beliefs. And the team, BeingShe believes that women play multiple roles, and when women come together with a collective intention, magic happens! Rightly to the motto of BeingShe, Nasiha found her spark to the contest, and she was crowned the title Mrs Universe UAE.

Nasiha’s life took a positive turn after this magnanimous win. Being empowered has made her work for the social cause of bringing aspiring women together and creating a platform to showcase the talents of the unsung heroines across society. According to Nasiha, “When a woman is financially stable and receives emotional & moral support from her loved ones, she feels empowered and pursues to conquer the world.”

Nasiha is planning to start a fashion event company under the name: QUEENS INTERNATIONAL FASHION & EVENTS (For MISS & MRS). Her strong thinking is that marriage should never act as a stop button for any aspiring woman achiever. When asked her why she chose India, especially Chennai, to start her company, she explained that she willalways remain an Indian at heart. She is still stunned with the traditional and cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent, and she feels that she can take one of the first steps to encourage women to pursue their dreams of becoming fashion icons, without compromising on their traditional and cultural backgrounds they are from.

Personally, Nasiha’s dream of pursuing her sparks in the fashion Industry, took a comma, at Chennai, and she wishes to continue where she took a pause, years before. Queens International Fashion & Events is a movement to empower and transform women and lead their inner drive and passion with an impactful concrete structure. QIFE believes in supporting the women empowerment and aims to unleash every girl and woman’s creativity and talent in society. QIFE is focused on unbridling the incomplete dreams of women and achieve satisfactory dream completion with passion.

Nasiha’s mantra is “I don’t believe in miracles. I believe in hard work.” She always believes that one should live their life to the fullest with utmost honesty to self so that you can look straight into the other person’s eye when you converse! Of course, the fortune favours the brave and the persevered individuals.

A cheerful Nasiha, sends her message to the women of the society, “Don’t let your circumstances and situations belittle you. Do not put off the burning desire within your heart. Life is more than anything you decipher as life to be. Breaking the barriers, coming out as an achiever doesn’t always mean that a woman has compromised on her modesty. No, that is not true. Upholding the culture, the heritage and the traditions of a family, even after a successful woman and becoming a mother, a woman is entitled to pursue her dreams to shine on!” Nasiha doesn’t stop with that. She goes on to tell the men in the society, “a woman always needs your strong support. You play important roles in a woman’s life – as a father, a brother, a companion, a husband and so on. Without your support, A woman can’t face the strife in life alone. Show your love to the ladies of your homes. Show your respect to the ladies who aspire to achieve, in the society. Life is beautiful to live when there is compassion and support shared.”

We wish the beautiful woman inside out, a grand success in her new venture, “QUEENS INTERNATIONAL FASHION & EVENTS (For MISS & MRS)”. May she continue to ignite the spark of success and aspiration in many young hearts. Way to go, superwoman!

— By Gaanz