Crowned for her daughter

A query from her four-year-old daughter Shanaya, "Why don’t you have a crown, mummy?” while surfing the net together to view beauty contest events inspired 35-year-old Bombay based Delnaz Balsara Sharma to enter the Mrs India-She is India contest. Having won the first runner up title in the contest three days earlier, Balsara Sharma said in a telephonic interview with Parsiana on July 17, 2018 that "I could never have entered any of the Miss India contests, as I am only 5 ft 4 in!”

There are about 18 to 20 Mrs India contests held in India, she informed us. The one she entered in "is the only contest where finalists can go to the official Mrs India contest held annually in The Philippines. "Moreover, the theme for the year — prevention of domestic violence resonated with me,” she said. Selected to be one of 45 finalists from "over 1,000 entrants,” Balsara Sharma started preparations for the event two months before the finals took place at the Umrao Hotel in Delhi. The selection process included telephonic interviews with the organizers, a one-minute video about her achievements, and a write-up and video of her thoughts on domestic violence. A theme costume round and an evening gown round produced the top 20, who were whittled down to five on the basis of a question-answer round with a panel of judges, which included actors Sangeeta Bijlani and Aditi Gowitrikar.
Balsara Sharma serves as head of customer service for a non-banking financial company of a large conglomerate. Husband Amitabh is the head of strategy for a life insurance company. And what is next on the cards for her? "Press conferences and participation at fashion weeks,” she retorted. "But my job is my priority; all that is weekend work.”
"My DNA is Bawa,” she told us. Keen to have Shanaya navjoted at the appropriate time, she acknowledged that many a time "Amitabh makes her recite the Ashem Vohu.” The little one goes to the Pirojsha Ardeshir Patel Agiary in Andheri with her mother and also to the Shiv temple with her father on Mondays.
And what is the child’s reaction to her mother winning the title? "Mummy you can keep the sash. The crown is mine!”